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Guests: Chapman Bell, Rachel Maddow, Brian Williams, Irshad Manji, Barak Barfi, Marc Ginsberg, Robin Wright, Hisham Melhem, Steven Cook, Ernesto Londono
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Liberation? Not yet.
Let's play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews in Washington. Leading off tonight:
Too little, too late. This is the scene in Cairo, where the people are gaining power by the hour, but are furious that President Hosni Mubarak has refused to give up his office and leave. How far will this revolution go? How many steps will it take for the people to end the regime and banish a leader they've had more than enough of?
This much is clear, power is moving to the people, but too slowly for this crowd. First, the people got Mubarak to say he's not running again in September. Then they got him to say his son's not running in September, a goal on which he had set his heart. And late today, just as people thought Mubarak was finally going to give up office, he instead he said all he would do is turn over some powers to his vice president. No one thinks that's enough. They believe Mubarak will still be pulling all the strings. And tonight, the revolution goes on in Tahrir Square, Liberation Square.
Let's go to Cairo right now and NBC News producer Chapman Bell, who's with the protesters in Tahrir Square. Chapman, thank you for joining us. What do you see? What can you see we can't see?
CHAPMAN BELL, NBC PRODUCER: Well, Chris, here in the square right now, the mood is still jubilant (INAUDIBLE) There is anger. They are upset. But they are continuing this process that they've been working on for 17 days now. When Mubarak did make this address to the crowds, they were watching a broadcast here in the square. Some were listening to radios. They were very upset, but many were saying, Tomorrow, tomorrow. This is the day. We're going to come back and we're going to continue to be in this square until he leaves his office.
MATTHEWS: Did they think he was going to give up power today, and/or leave the country today? Did they think that was in the air?
BELL: Chris, yes, that was the—that was what widely, well, heard around the world and expected here in the square. Many people were coming here for what they thought would be a celebration. They thought that their protests over the last 17 days had finally paid off and that they would be here to celebrate this mission that they've been on.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't get the news they wanted to receive. But they—and while there was anger, like I said, it did remain peaceful. They just want to regroup and keep this protest up, despite the government wanting them to get back to business as usual.
MATTHEWS: Do you believe the people would be satisfied you're with right now if Mubarak had said, I'm not president anymore, I'm going to Sharm el Sheikh, I've turned over all authority, I'm not president of Egypt anymore. Would that have been enough for euphoria to continue tonight?
BELL: Well, I think had he made that statement, the situation around me would probably be one big party this evening. I think—but I think life would have gotten back to normal at some point with that statement because that has been their overall mission this whole time, that they said that they would be here protesting on the streets, in Tahrir Square, until Mubarak leaves office.
So it's difficult to know, but I—I mean, I would assume from the people I've spoken to, had he said, I'm no longer president, there would have been celebrations here, and then people would have slowly gotten back to business as usual.
MATTHEWS: How long do you think the people around you can keep up this adrenaline rush, it looks like?
BELL: Chris, that's a good question, though I will say they've done it so far and they seem as ever motivated to continue doing it here. In fact, tomorrow, like they've said to me, they expect to continue massive protests here, and also at the palace, the presidential palace here in Cairo. They expect to pick up the protests there. And they seem to—the crowds around me seem to have no interest in slowing down their mission at this point.
MATTHEWS: Can they keep it non-violent?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Mubarak! No!
BELL: I'm sorry, Chris, I couldn't hear you.
MATTHEWS: Can they keep it non-violent?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mubarak, get out!
MATTHEWS: Non-violent.
BELL: Well, that's an interesting question, actually. I mean, you'll notice surrounding the square are tanks and other military vehicles, but there's hardly a presence of any soldiers out here on the square. In fact, the tanks are more used for people to sleep around, covered under blankets here in this cold Cairo night.
They also—also, the organizers here in the square, volunteers, seem to actually be keeping the peace more than the authorities. They have human chains surrounding the square to search people, ask for IDs. They seem very organized and very committed to keeping the peace, and also keeping their protest peaceful so that it remains legitimate.
MATTHEWS: Do you have a sense in the streets there where people are pushing the army? Are they taunting it to keep the pressure on Mubarak? Are the people with the army or against the army?
BELL: Well, I believe that—I mean, the army has said that they are united with the people, and it has remained in the last few, well, several days, the nonviolent impact—you know, you see soldiers mingling amongst the crowd. You see people sitting on tanks. There doesn't seem to be any friction, any tension amongst the military and the people here. And I assume as long as they remain peaceful, that the military will respect that they're peacefully protesting what they want here in Egypt.
MATTHEWS: Great reporting, Chapman Bell with the people in Tahrir Square in Cairo, sir. Thank you for that great report.
Rachel Maddow, of course, is host of "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" on MSNBC tonight. She'll be reporting for an hour at 9:00 o'clock. Rachel, thank you for coming on early tonight.
RACHEL MADDOW, HOST, "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW": Thanks, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Perhaps you can preview. But I was listening to your very, I have to say, well, wonderful description of the—I call it the music because I think behind every revolution, there's a feeling to it, a hope, a dream. There was certainly with the Mubarak—Mubarak—I keep getting my names wrong—the Barack Obama campaign in the United States, a sense of hope that went beyond the words. The people today found the words couldn't keep up with their dreams.
MADDOW: We are seeing something that moves us as Americans because I think Americans, left, right and center, believe in government of the people, by the people and for the people. And when we see people in any country around the world try to make that happen through peaceful means, we instinctively, instinctively side with them.
And to think that the American people—I think the latest polling I saw, something like 82 percent feel like we are in sympathy with the Egyptian protesters in the street. That is a remarkable number when you keep in mind that Hosni Mubarak has been this great American formal ally for so long. He has been America's man at the cornerstone of the Arab world as a leader for so long, without us having any regard for the way that he was treating his own people at all.
And to—it tells you something important about the way that Americans think about humankind, to see how we can completely disregard that, our relationship with Mubarak, and turn toward his people when his people start articulating their human needs. I think this is not a story that is about us. This is not a story about American politics, the divisions between Americans on politics or any of those things. But the way that we react to this and why it's so important to us to see these images, I think it does just remind you sort of where we're coming from as a people.
MATTHEWS: You know, I agree with you about the feeling. It's obviously manifest in your words and in the words of many others. But you know, when you look at the polling in the United States, you see a line down the middle between left and right. And you see people on the right—
I think the number was 8 percent of the people in the poll we just looked at that support what they see happening in Egypt, 8 percent of the right.
MADDOW: Yes. Well, you know, you also see Dick Cheney out there
calling Hosni Mubarak a good man in the midst of all of this. I mean,
there's certainly—there is another side to this. But I do think that—
you know, Fox News is running all day with these protests, too, and
Americans are paying attention to these protests, too. And I don't think
that when people look at Hosni Mubarak up there giving that taped
statement, saying—talking about himself in the third person and saying -
addressing his people as if they are children and he is their father—I don't think it is a mainstream American position to identify with Hosni Mubarak in that situation. I just don't think most people do.
I do think that, you know, the Cheney wing of the Republican Party will want that, and I just don't think it resonates. I do think that we are in a fragile position here in terms of figuring out what happens next. And the military is going to be key. And if this ends up being—I mean, when we saw Mubarak and Suleiman speak tonight, they are empty shells. We have no idea that they have any power to stay in office in the way they are describing that they're going to stay in office. They don't have the military with them, those guys are just giving speeches that'll go down in history as ironic, if best. These guys may have no power behind them if the military isn't with them.
And if this ends up being sort of a populist, popular-supported military coup, I mean, Americans are going to be in an obtuse relationship to this, right?
MATTHEWS: Right, but I think we can follow it. I'm thinking it's not "Seven Days in May" because there's -- It's not like that because it's a popular uprising.
MADDOW: That's right.
MATTHEWS: I want you to talk about something you're very good at, the conversation that's going on right now. And it is a conversation. The people in the street are speaking with one voice, trying to make a point. The military's listening. Barack is deaf. I mean—I mean, Mubarak is deaf. And so you see this interesting conversation. But there are people talking to each other. Those people in the street are talking to the military.
And the military has been—has been nudging this guy. First of all, he's not going to run for reelection. Then his son's not going to run. And then he's going to turn over powers—unclear what powers—to his VP that he's picked. It's all step by step.
But what's pushing—well, your thoughts on this. Is it the people we're looking at right now in the square pushing the military, which is really in power, and they're pushing the Mubarak administration, regime, if you will, to do these steps, these baby steps? Eventually, he's going to have to take the big step if this crowd keeps up.
MADDOW: Yes, I mean, it's not a mystery as to why everybody thought Mubarak was going to step down tonight. We woke today to news from Egypt that the military was speaking as a political actor without Mubarak and without Suleiman, right?
MATTHEWS: Yes.
MADDOW: The military supreme council met without those guys, and said, Protesters, your demands will all be met. What's their main demand? Mubarak must go. That was the military speaking without Mubarak and without Suleiman, having consigned them to the sidelines. And then essentially, these statements that we got tonight from Mubarak and Suleiman, that was them speaking from the sidelines. We have received what they call communique number one from the military telling the protesters...
MATTHEWS: Well, what's communique number two going to be?
MADDOW: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: That's the big question.
MADDOW: That is what we're waiting on. And who knows when it comes. It may come in East Coast primetime U.S. time tonight. This is a 24-hour revolution. It may come tomorrow.
But communique number 2 from the military is when I think we will know who's actually in power in Egypt. Mubarak and Suleiman saying they are is almost as good as you and I saying we are. At this point, we don't think they have any power behind them.
MATTHEWS: Did you ever think you'd be as thrilled by getting a letter from the military as we were today?
MATTHEWS: I tell you, it was a breath of fresh air to hear that there was a voice of authority over there that wasn't corrupt, apparently—not as corrupt. It wasn't desperate. It sounded morally firm. It said, We're with the people.
MADDOW: Yes. And to see the reaction of the people to say, You know what? We—the people in and the military are one. They have believed in the military. There's initial pictures of people in the streets handing flowers to soldiers standing around tanks.
MATTHEWS: Right.
MADDOW: I mean, they see the military in this case not as some sort of imposed power, but as somebody who speaks for them and who they trust. And so to see a statement of the military saying, We accept that trust and we will move forward with it, was a calming moment.
MATTHEWS: Well, stick around tonight for "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW." Things get better as the night goes on on MSNBC -- 9:00 o'clock tonight, Rachel Maddow at 9:00 PM Eastern.
Coming up: It's not clear what this means for Egypt and it's certainly not clear what it means for us. We are Americans. We're following this from a long way away, trying to figure it out. But you know what? This is darn good coverage we're getting here. We're getting great pictures and great reporting from over there. And I think we're hearing from the people. And they want change. They want this guy gone, and he ain't leaving. That's the story tonight.
You're watching HARDBALL—close but no cigar, as we say in American politics—here only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL. Brian Williams is, of course, anchor of "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS." Brian, thank you so much. You know, the old Gandhi expression was "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, and then you win." You've been catching the mood of the crowd over there. Where are we at?
BRIAN WILLIAMS, ANCHOR, "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS": Well, I'll tell you, there we were, minding our own business in the middle of the first feed of "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS" tonight. Richard Engel explained the day and said, you know, this news organization reporting he's going to go. White House believing he's going to go, billions of people around the planet. This is Mubarak's last day on the job. Richard quotes a sources next to Mubarak saying plans changed. Something changed during his day.
Then we talk on the telephone to Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the U.S., who says, Here's the deal. He transferred all the powers of presidency to his number two. So Suleiman is now the de facto president of Egypt, and Mubarak remains the de jure president...
MATTHEWS: Oh!
WILLIAMS: ... of Egypt—to teach a little law school on live television.
MATTHEWS: I know. I know!
WILLIAMS: And that's what he is contending.
MATTHEWS: Well, the problem is, when you ask the question, Who's president, to the people in that crowd as we're watching now on tape here, they believe Mubarak's still president and they don't like it.
WILLIAMS: Yes. This was very simple to them, Chris. They wanted to see an old expression we call "wheels up."
MATTHEWS: Right.
WILLIAMS: They wanted to see some sort of vehicle, boat, vehicular, or preferably aircraft carrying Hosni Mubarak out of Cairo, the typical grainy footage of a plane at the end of the tarmac getting ready for takeoff, perhaps to Sharm el Sheikh, UAE, all—Germany, all the places it's been rumored that would—would take him. And they wanted to see him go away.
MATTHEWS: Let's talk about U.S. interests and our president. Sometimes passivity might the right policy. We're hearing from Chuck, Chuck Todd at the White House, that they're very nervous about any statement from the president that might be used by the Mubarak regime to say we're interfering. And so it's an unusual time. We don't want to show we have any influence. But if you don't show you have any influence, you look like you don't have any power, and that's our conundrum, isn't it.
WILLIAMS: Well, that's right. Two examples here. Number one—I don't mean to sound flip, but when Toto pulls away the curtain and you see who's pulling the levers and turning the dials, that was a bad moment for the wizard. And wizards and diplomacy don't like to be shown doing that.
Number two—I said this earlier today on MSNBC—if people read the WikiLeaks document, of all things, all of those documents, not looking for the prurient, not looking for the women leaders are hanging out with, but instead look at the mechanics of diplomacy, you'll see it runs at the speed of molasses. And there's still a machinery, Chris—you know this better than most—to diplomacy. It takes time. And certain things have to run a certain way. It gets more complicated around the world. And so I'm not defending or supporting anyone, just explaining that for all people see above the surface of the water, there's a lot of paddling down below.
MATTHEWS: Where do you think this story goes in our journalism? Do you think it goes now in those bilateral relations between American generals, field-rank people, and their counterparts in Cairo? Is that where we're going to have to find any kind of American subtle diplomacy here?
WILLIAMS: Well, you're onto it. This was the part of the diplomacy that's been going on beneath the surface of the water that a lot of people haven't keyed in on. And that is general officer to general officer. In some cases, U.S. retired generals and their Egyptian counterparts because, Chris, as I've said before, you can't go to West Point or to a major Army base in this country without seeing Egyptian uniforms, these two armed forces have worked so closely together. Those are where some of the real close relationships are, in addition to the diplomatic community. So that would be a ripe area to pursue.
MATTHEWS: Or on the roof of the Washington Hotel...
WILLIAMS: Yes, that's right.
MATTHEWS: ... overlooking the Mall...
WILLIAMS: Overlooking...
MATTHEWS: ... some late evening during the summer. Thank you very much, Brian Williams, for that great report.
Let's bring in Irshad Manji, who's a professor of leadership at NYU, the great University of New York, and a senior fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy. Irshad, thank you. It's late in the evening for me, at least. We've been on all afternoon. We've gone through some mood changes. We have seen euphoria. We have seen disillusionment. Now we see a kind of, I think, defiance in the street. I don't think it's nasty yet. It's like, OK, this is going to take longer.
IRSHAD MANJI, EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR DEMOCRACY: Yes. Well, and it always does, Chris. And you know, between the last time you and I spoke and now, I heard from some of my friends who had been in Tahrir Square, and almost to a person, they use phrases like, I'm deadly serious. This guy is not serious. He does not know how serious we are.
So they're actually hunkering down for the long haul. And it's not a resignation. It's not even a bitter defiance that I'm picking up on. It is now a "grit your teeth, and let's go for broke." But always in the case of my friends, a commitment, at least they articulate it, whether or not they'll deliver it is another issue—a commitment to non-violence.
MATTHEWS: You know, I get romantic about politics. I get in trouble for it. But you know, it must feel great to be one of those young people there because for the first time in their lives—they may be 25 years old, 35 years old—for the first time in their lives, they matter. They have a say. And even just the tenor of their voice, the wave of their fists matters. And it never did before in their whole lives.
MANJI: It's such a beautiful, eloquent, yet simple observation that you've made. And I'll encapsulate exactly what you said by telling you a quick story. A few years ago, when I was in Cairo after a major anti-government protest, I hung out with a bunch of democracy activists at a cafe. And one of the young women approached me to say, Irshad, I need to confide something to you. She said that she's dating a Jew and thinks that she's in love with him, and she doesn't know how to tell her parents.
And the point is that she had already busted, you know, the family's boundaries. She was already part of the future. Now she needed to figure out a way to show her elders that they can be brought into the future, as well. So in some ways, I think that the cycle of fear politically that we keep hearing has just been broken may very well trickle up or down, depending on how you look at it, to personal relationships, too.
MATTHEWS: Well, go tell her the Jewish guys make great husbands, it's been my experiences, from our family and friends.
MATTHEWS: But seriously...
MANJI: I wouldn't know.
MATTHEWS: No, it's true. Let me ask you about the future here for us, as a journalist and looking at this thing. How does the president deal with the fact that he's not supposed to be seen doing anything, yet everybody will hold him to account if it goes wrong over there.
MANJI: Well...
MATTHEWS: And maybe he wants to get the credit if it goes right. In other words, he has to be the hidden hand of all hidden hands. Apparently, they're on the plane still now trying to figure out in real time what to say. They don't—I've never heard the White House have such a problem writing a simple statement.
MANJI: Well, because it's not simple at all, is it. I mean, we just heard Brian Williams point out that for all of the diplomacy going on aboveboard, there's a whole lot of paddling underneath. And look, the Middle East is complex. There's no question about that.
But I think that, you know, President Obama is in a position yet again in a position of having to figure out for himself, what are core values as president—not as an individual, but as president of the United States, he is mandated to represent. And then, Chris, when he figures that out for the umpteenth time, he has to be very clear and articulate in delivering that statement.
And I think that's what so many people are confused about right now, is that it's one thing if he was a private citizen, quite another that he still holds office as president. And yet for some reason, despite the complexity of the Middle East, he is not able to state clearly whose side America is on. This is very disturbing.
MATTHEWS: But you know what side he's on. But you know, Irshad, what sides he's on.
MANJI: Oh, I...
MATTHEWS: He's on the side of what we're watching.
MANJI: Oh, I agree.
MATTHEWS: So what's stopping him from saying it?
MANJI: Well, it's interests, right? It's that age-old sort of...
MATTHEWS: Oil? Oil? Israel...
MANJI: ... confrontation between interests and values.
MATTHEWS: The usual set of concerns we have in that part of the world.
MANJI: The usual set of concerns. And yet, as many people have said and long before this uprising, at a certain point, you have to have let the people of the Middle East figure out where they're going to go from there. And Chris, given that we live in an interdependent world, we in this part of the world are just going to have to adjust. And you know what? This may be the swift kick in the pants we need in order...
MANJI: ... to wean ourselves off of some bad habits, like (INAUDIBLE)
MATTHEWS: Do you know the name of the song -- (SINGING) Easier, easier said than done?
MANJI: Nobody...
MATTHEWS: Easier said than done.
MANJI: Chris, nobody said it was easy...
MANJI: ... but please don't suggest it's impossible.
MATTHEWS: OK, thank you. Thank you for that. Irshad Manji, thanks for joining us tonight. When we return, we're going to go back to Cairo, where the protesters aren't giving up. In fact, I think they're enthusiastic more than ever tonight, and not bitter yet. That's amazing. We'll see how long that lasts, that enthusiastic desire to count—to count. Tahrir Square—we're going to get back to there when you're watching HARDBALL in a couple of minutes, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, it's 2:30 in the morning over there in Egypt. I guess things are settling down after an exhausting, emotional day over there. And we're looking at Tahrir Square. It's still filled with people camping out overnight and trying to stay awake, obviously. A huge day coming tomorrow.
Let's bring Barak Barfi. He's a research fellow with the New America Foundation. He's there with the protesters. Barak, thank you for staying up. I don't know how you stay up, but I want to ask you about the adrenaline level of these people and what they see coming tomorrow. Let's do some previewing of where this goes after the disillusionment of today's announcement by Barack Obama—why do I keep—Hosni Mubarak, that he's staying in office.
BARAK BARFI, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION (via telephone): Well, yes, definitely, the people have rolled out their mats and pitched their tents, trying to get a few hours of sleep before the big day tomorrow. Remember, Friday is the big protest day. It's the weekend. They come out after the prayers. They're expecting another large amount of people. They're talking about a million or more, like they had on Tuesday.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
BARFI: And they're again going to demand that President Hosni Mubarak resign and resign immediately, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you about what they think happen. Do they believe he's pretending to leave power? Or they don't even like the functional thing of turning power over to the other guy, to Suleiman? What is it they don't like? They want to see him on a boat, on a plane?
You know, Brian Williams was saying they want to see some physically -
they want to see some physicality to this event.
BARFI: Well, Chris, last week, last Wednesday, Mubarak threw a hardball when he brought those thugs in the street, and today, he threw them a curveball. There weren't expecting that he was not going to resign. There were rumors that he was going to resign all day and people were ecstatic and elated.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
BARFI: And now that he hasn't, people are frustrated. And they don't want to leave the square until he does. I think (INAUDIBLE) people are digging in, they're clinging their position.
That's what exactly what I've heard in the square. They said they won't leave. They're here, they're adamant and they will not move until Mubarak leaves.
MATTHEWS: What possible advantage does the army get in keeping Mubarak nominally in the presidency and yet having him publicly yield his powers?
BARFI: Well, Chris, that's a very good question. The military—we have to remember, the military here is a very strong player. It's ruled the country since the 1952 revolution that brought Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. All of three presidents have been part of the military.
So, there could be behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the military here, by military generals, by midlevel officials, trying to jockey for power. And remember what Brian said, that every—that every American base is full of Egyptian officers training.
The United States conducts the Bright Star Operation with the Egyptian military, considered one of the largest exercises in the world. We have a lot of contacts with these military officials, and now we're going to see the diplomats step back and more people from the (INAUDIBLE) step forward and try to negotiate with these people they've developed long relationships with, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you to speculate at this point. We've been through this story all afternoon with its ups and its downs.
Could it be the military is giving Hosni Mubarak one last chance? He comes out and says, I'm going to yield my powers but not my office. They say, you've got 24 hours with that scam. If the people see through that and they're still demonstrating tomorrow night, Friday night, you're gone?
BARFI: Well, it's unclear what the military is going to do. We heard about decision number one, that Mubarak is going to transfer all of his powers and he's going to be a president in name only, as interior (ph) figure. But he threw that option out the window today when he threw society a curveball.
So, we don't know what the military is going to do next. But we do know there's a large frustration on the part of the military, that soldiers are deployed, and as we've seen the pictures of the people celebrating on the tanks, the junior officers here, they are deployed, are with the protesters and not with the regime and Mubarak, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Who do you think they could turn over the authority to in the next couple of days that would make the people feel they had won this revolution? Is there any figure they could give this to that would give them a sense, a real knowledge that they won the revolution? They can go home?
BARFI: Well, in the West, people talk about Mohamed ElBaradei. But here, people say that he's not Egyptian, he's been abroad too long. But one name comes up repeatedly, Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League. He was a former foreign minister during the 1990s. He was a vocal critic of America's policies and Israel during the peace process in the 1990s.
MATTHEWS: I see.
BARFI: He won a lot of respect. When the Intifada broke out in 2000, a song came out, "I hate Israel and I love Amr Moussa." He came to the square last Friday to meet with the protester and I've spoken to a lot of them and they have deep respects for Amr Moussa—Chris.
MATTHEWS: You may have something there. We're going to be looking for the new leaders as the days go on because it's not going to be Mubarak. Thank you—Barak Barfi, on the streets of Cairo.
Coming up right now: who is in charge tonight as we speak? Mubarak says he's transferred power to Suleiman, his handpicked V.P. But is he still pulling the strings? Is he a Putin figure, making Medvedev look like the leader when he's really calling the shots, the prime minister? It doesn't look like a real transfer of power (ph) today and people are very unhappy it. Look at them, look at them. They want change.
You're watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
One question still lingering tonight in Cairo is who's actually in charge with Mubarak not stepping down? What power will he have and what does his V.P. actually have?
And how about the military? Who's the boss? Who's in charge?
I'm joined right now by Robin Wright of the Woodrow Wilson International Center and Marc Ginsberg, who served as a U.S. ambassador to morocco.
So, I want to ask you both, Robin and the ambassador, who's in charge. I mean, for Americans, we always like to know who's the boss. Is the boss Suleiman, Mubarak secretly, or the military high command?
ROBIN WRIGHT, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: Mubarak thinks he's still in power. I think in his circle probably has the reins on power. The military is the most powerful institution in the country, but the momentum is on the side of the people. And you've seen a real shift over the past week. Mubarak has twice tried to get out there, giving speech, mobilizing public sentiment.
The first time, it helped a little bit. This time, I think he has blown it.
MATTHEWS: I think he looked weak tonight. Your thoughts?
MARC GINSBERG, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MOROCCO: I'm absolutely convinced that Omar Suleiman together with the chief of staff of the military are the two most important people in Egypt right now. His name is Sami Annan. He's the chief of staff of the military. He controls the actual military apparatus in that country. The defense minister, Tantawi, is going to be brushed aside, in my judgment, although he went down to the demonstrators to basically show his face.
But Omar Suleiman has been—
MATTHEWS: OK. You make an argument, but it's an argument until I see Mubarak toppled. Why is he still the head of that country? Why is he still Mr. President?
GINSBERG: Well, I'm convinced he almost has little to do, believe it or not, with what's taking place inside Egypt as much as his presence has to do with the other Arab allies of Egypt who fear that he was the firewall between them and the demonstrators.
MATTHEWS: What does good does it do them to keep the title but not the power?
GINSBERG: Because it doesn't create the impression to the other potential demonstrators in their own countries that they can send their own leaders packing on a plane to either Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.
MATTHEWS: Oh. So, they're afraid that exile looks too inviting for people of their countries?
GINSBERG: That's right. Yes.
MATTHEWS: What is it in Middle Eastern culture—and you've been an ambassador, you've been a reporter over there, in our country, if you don't like, say, Richard Nixon, you send him on a plane to California. He goes lives in San Clemente. Not a bad place to go actually. Or Jimmy Carter, if you beat him for re-election, he goes downs to Plains, Georgia.
There's something in the Islamic culture, he's got to get out of the country. What is this about exile? Is this an old banishment thing from the caravan, if you're bad, we send you away? Why do they want him to leave?
He's got $80 billion, why would he want to leave? I don't know.
WRIGHT: Well, this—I mean, he feels Egyptian, and not only that he feels he's Egypt.
MATTHEWS: Well, why do they want him to leave the country? Why is this a big part of the protest?
WRIGHT: No one has talked about him leaving the country. They talked about him leaving office.
MATTHEWS: We hear it all the time.
WRIGHT: Well, some—look, that's—
MATTHEWS: Watch television, Robin. It's all day long.
WRIGHT: He's been in Sharm el-Sheikh for so long, and I think if he -
at this point, actually went to his vacation home where he spent most of the time in Sharm el-Sheikh.
MATTHEWS: You agree with this?
GINSBERG: You know, the bottom line is that people in Arab countries believe that there are sinister forces at work that manipulated, that he's a wizard of oz. As long as he stays in the country—
MATTHEWS: OK. So, it's radical (ph)?
GINSBERG: It actually comes down to cutting the umbilical cord.
MATTHEWS: I see.
WRIGHT: But remember, this is not something that's unique.
MATTHEWS: They didn't want the shah back as you recall. They didn't want him on the road. They wanted him back to try him and execute him.
WRIGHT: Well, but look, I mean, whether it's the Duvaliers, you find all over the world that dictators are—people want them out, they've ruled for so long --
MATTHEWS: But they escaped. Let me tell you this, Mengistu from Ethiopia is in Zimbabwe. Edi Amin went to Saudi Arabia. You know, Baby Doc went over to France.
Most dictators want to get out of the country.
WRIGHT: Well, they don't have many options in the end because they've led to such turmoil.
MATTHEWS: I'm going to hold my question, but I still have—why do they always say out of the country?
GINSBERG: Saddam didn't leave, remember what happened to him?
MATTHEWS: Well, he should have.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about his future. You say the military in combination with Suleiman are running the country.
GINSBERG: Yes.
MATTHEWS: How long will they put up with what we're watching? What's the next shoe to drop? We're watching those shoes, what's the next one to drop?
GINSBERG: My biggest fear here, Chris, is that, in some respects, the military may have calculated that there is an important need to have a showdown, another violent showdown with the demonstrators in order to show the vast majority of the rest of the Egyptian people that these people will not accept—will not accept—a reasonable transition of power. They may want to believe that they can isolate these demonstrators and I think they're absolutely miscalculating.
MATTHEWS: I think they are, too. I think these demonstrators are not making any bigger demand than they made the first day they started.
GINSBERG: Absolutely.
WRIGHT: I think this moved gradually, that they're asking for a little bit more.
MATTHEWS: What more do they want than they started with?
WRIGHT: Well, they were first talking about reforms and—
MATTHEWS: No, they said get rid of Mubarak.
WRIGHT: And very quickly, it has evolved. And it's also now they don't want Suleiman. And tonight, they said they didn't want the military either. I think that they're talking about a lot more.
But I think the thing that's so interesting is that they have tried to remain loyal to civil disobedience and I think it is true that the regime is now trying to bait them to see if they can get them to engage in a way that then puts the onus on them.
MATTHEWS: By the way, they're not Tea Partiers. They don't come armed. That's probably a good thing.
WRIGHT: Only with shoes. They started throwing their shoes tonight.
MATTHEWS: They don't believe—they don't have a Second Amendment over there.
Thank you, Robin Wright. And thank you, Marc Ginsberg.
Coming up: much more reaction on what we heard today from Hosni Mubarak and where things go from here. We're always trying to figure out tomorrow. Tomorrow looked clearer—today, the afternoon looked clearer. Now, it's not.
You're watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Joining me right now is Hisham Melhem who's Al Arabiya's Washington bureau chief, and also, Steven Cook, who's a senior fellow of Middle East studies at the Council of Foreign Relations.
Gentlemen—Hisham, I haven't talked to you in a couple hours, but this day keeps changing. Every couple of hours is a new day. We started with this euphoric bit of information both reporting of NBC and the statement from the military command over there that there was going to be every indication of a major change, the leaving of Mubarak.
He's hung in there for the title of president it seems, saying he's given over some of his powers. It's not satisfying anyone.
Your thoughts about where this leads to over the weekend.
HISHAM MELHEM, AL ARABIYA: Chris, it may be heresy to quote Lenin in Washington, but he used to say in the past that sometimes, decades pass and nothing happens. And then, in weeks, decades happen. And that's what we are seeing in Egypt today.
MATTHEWS: Wow. I like that.
MELHEM: I think—that's what you do when you spent many years of your life studying philosophy at Georgetown.
I lost my train of thought now. Look, tomorrow is going to be a crucial day. Today when they heard the speech, they were chanting in Arabic, (SPEAKING ARABIC), which is it's beautiful in Arabic because it rhymes and it means "tomorrow afternoon, we're going to the palace."
And tomorrow, if you see blood letting in the streets of Cairo, whether at the hands of the police, not necessarily the military now, this could lead Omar Suleiman to take some of the tough measures that you were hinting at today when he was cautioning against chaos in Egypt. And I still believe that the army doesn't want to shoot at people, because I do believe that there's a clear warning from Washington to this army that depends heavily on your tax money and my tax money, this is not Iran in 2009. There's a lot of influence that the United States can wield in Egypt.
So, I think the army is still reluctant to use brute force, the kind of brute force that you would expect in Damascus or in Cairo, or in Baghdad during Saddam. So, the army is trying to maintain its influence in the country.
The senior officer corps is as corrupt as they come. They have their own benefits. They have their own villas and their own bank accounts and perks. They don't want to lose that.
The junior army, the officer corps is different somewhat. And so, at one time, they may reach the point, why are we fighting to keep a man who's 83 years old in power and it probably get through to them, and bring a different arrangement, a different order that would maintain the special privileges in the Egyptian hierarchy.
MATTHEWS: That brings the very question I've been asking for the last hour or two, which is why should the military fight for Hosni Mubarak to maintain the pretense of the presidency when he's already agreed to give up the presidency? Unless he's lying.
STEVEN COOK, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, I think there is indication that he is not entirely telling the truth. When he transfers his power to Omar Suleiman, that is a temporary situation. If he was actually giving up the presidency, it would turn to the speaker of the People's Assembly, a gentleman named Fathi Sorour. So, there is an element of sleight of hand here.
On this question of the military, I think the senior officer corps is united in wanting to protect a regime, not necessarily President Mubarak, but a regime from which they are privileged above all else. And I think it's incredible important. The problem is, should there be chaos in the streets, then you might see the military move in a different direction.
MATTHEWS: Well, Hisham, I guess the question is, I've been watching a relatively nonviolent revolution here. In fact, it is nonviolent. I was comparing it to people sitting outside and waiting for their Duke basketball tickets for day after day in whatever weather it is. It's almost nonviolent.
And I'm just wondering, is there an escalation potential here? What would be the next step for the people in the square?
MELHEM: I think those who are leading this movement, uprising, revolution—call it whatever you will—are extremely conscious of the fact that they want to maintain it as civil disobedience. They don't want to resort to arms.
But if the army or police or the regime in the end crushes this uprising, then everybody will go underground. The Islamists will go underground. And then you're going to see a different bitterness, a different approach. And you will probably see more anti-Americanism because those people will feel that they were betrayed by the president of the United States who went to Cairo a year and a half and spoke about the virtues of democracy that everybody deserves democracy.
And these people today are saying the president of the United States should be faithful to his own words in that landmark speech he gave. If this movement is crushed, then we will reap the ugly consequences later on.
MATTHEWS: So, you're with these people who are watching, 100 percent, no problem?
MELHEM: Look, so far they have been extremely smart, trying to neutralize the army, trying not to do anything that is really provocative. They did not engage in looting, in destruction of property. And they have been speaking in a language that everybody can relate to. There's no—there's no talk about Islamism.
MELHEM: There's no talk about nationalism. There's no talk about anti-Americanism.
MATTHEWS: I noticed that. I noticed, sir—Hisham, what I've noticed here is, it's Egypt. It's nationalistic. It's people who want a better country.
MELHEM: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: I don't catch a theocracy in the making here.
MELHEM: Absolutely.
MATTHEWS: I sense they're very much like what we've been like at our best. They want a meritocracy. They don't want the old kleptocracy that we've had exposed here.
Thank you very much, Hisham Melhem, for joining us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Steven Cook, more time next time.
Up next: tomorrow will be a big day in Cairo, we think. Well, it could be a couple of million people. We don't know how to estimate these crowds right now. But, clearly, Friday was going to be a big day. Now that Mubarak's refused to step down after the big tease today, you got to expect a huge crowd tomorrow.
We're going to go back to Tahrir Square tonight for the last couple minutes of HARDBALL, to get a live report.
This is HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, you can tell how tricky a political statement is by how long it takes to put it together. The White House, after four hours, has just released a statement from President Obama.
It reads in part, this is in response to what President Mubarak didn't say today, I believe, quote, "The Egyptian people have made it clear that there is no going back to the way things were. Egypt has changed, and its future is in the hands of the people. We have seen young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian, join together and earn the respect of the world through their nonviolent calls for change."
Joining us right now by phone from Cairo is Ernesto Londono, who's foreign correspondent for "The Washington post." there live.
Ernesto, thank you very much. This statement from our president tonight basically sides with the purposes of this revolution that you're covering in the streets. What influence do you think that will have on the events you're covering?
ERNESTO LONDONO, THE WASHINGTON POST (via telephone): The protesters have been adamant that they want the White House on their side. They've been adamant that the White House and the Obama administration and his predecessors have been supporting a regime that they call authoritarian and brutal for way too long and they say it's time for America to speak in very clear terms and to join their cause. So, I think—I think the protesters are going to be very happy when they see that the White House is taking a pretty a pretty bold stand behind them.
MATTHEWS: Yes. Let me give you another—Ernesto, let me—it's even tougher, this line. "The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete, and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity."
So here you have the president of the United States saying that the titular head of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, hasn't done what we want him to do. It's a pretty strong statement.
LONDONO: I'm sorry. What protesters have been yelling—this might be—this might be too little too late. They've been—they've been clamoring to since day one for the White House to join their cause, to demand that Mubarak step aside, and to show that there's a plan for an orderly transition.
They've been getting mixed messages from the White House when this—when these protests began, the United States said that they believed Egypt was a stable country. And in the days that followed, the protesters have been seeing mixed messages. I think we've reached a point where there is so much anger on the street that what America is saying might not be altogether relevant.
MATTHEWS: Yes. Thank you very much, Ernesto Londono, over there in Cairo, covering for "The Washington Post." And I just want to say that the longer you let this pressure build, the more you have to do to release it. And the longer we fail to take sides, the longer that president over there, Mubarak, stays in office, the more the demand's going to be for swifter and nastier punishment of him.
If I were him, I'd get out there now. But, clearly, he's not going to do it. We've got a long test of wills coming in the next weeks, perhaps month. We're watching democracy growing in Egypt.
That's HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"THE LAST WORD" with Lawrence O'Donnell starts right now.
Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.> PASTE THE TRANSCRIPT HERE
Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by
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text:
SkinnyScoop Bets That There's an Oprah in Everyone
A new social Web site, called SkinnyScoop and built around lists of recommendations, has two X chromosomes in mind.
Aimed at women, it encourages them to create custom lists on a range of topics, from the best local eats to stylish maternity clothes, and then compare those lists with others.
CEO Eden Godsoe developed the idea while pregnant with her first child, after a friend sent her an Excel spreadsheet comparing different baby products. Apparently, women make 85 percent of their purchase decisions based on friends' recommendations.
From there, Godsoe began thinking about how women in her life utilized the advice of friends before making a purchase. Her goal, she said, is to "move those offline interactions that women share online."
The site's slogan, "Unleash your inner Oprah," is a clear nod to media star Oprah Winfrey, who is known for launching products into the stratosphere by listing them as one of her favorite things.
"There are already a lot of sites that allow you to look for aspirational things, but SkinnyScoop focuses on what's actionable," Godsoe said.
She separated SkinnyScoop from sites such as Pinterest and Polyvore, noting that they play off users' fantasies rather than realities. The site's partnerships with brands and companies mean users can make social lists of, for example, books from Amazon, rather than just pictures of books they like from around the Web.
Although the site does not prevent men from registering, it's clear that SkinnyScoop is made and run by women, for women.
"We had to be something to someone," Godsoe said.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
3 Free Shots, Free Shipping, and a Coupon for a Free 1 Day Cleanse with Your 3 Day Cleanse order.
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text:
Ben Meadows:
- Price:
- $85.00
- Description
- Specifications
- Reviews
48˝- 50˝
All-day rainwear built tough to resist snags and punctures in the field. Stretch fabric prevents the feeling of being restricted. Polyester knit material has an elastic polyurethane coating for dispersing perspiration without the need for a lining making it lightweight. Bib pants have a high front/lower back to keep you protected, yet cool in warmer weather. Other features include an internal pocket with Velcro® closure inside front of bib, heavy-duty elastic with click type connectors, snap take up adjustment at waist, knee-length boot zippers, and double layer Impertech, edge stitched and welded on seat and knees. Blood Borne Pathogen Tested.
We encourage our customers to let us know what experiences they have had with our products, whether good or bad. By submitting a review, you can share your experiences with others and also provide valuable feedback to us as well. With just a few simple steps, you can add your review of this product.
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text: Yeah, sounds like the bull they gave in high school for getting us to try on our classes. The GPA doesn't show what professor think of your work at all. Most professors I know and the ones in my college gave you good grades for the work you turned in. Only way you got poor grades is if you failed to turn it in (which is the reason I have a 3.25), if I had turned in every assignment I would have easily had a 4.0. I had a professor that gave me an A for the final grade and flat out told me he didn't care for how I did my work or presented myself. GPAs are misleading, you want evidence of their work ethics and such then see if they continued working on their trade after college, if they didn't then chances are they aren't dedicated to the job whereas someone who finished college and kept plugging away to improve it the best they could on their own obviously has a great work ethic and is very determined. How well you do in school doesn't hint at all for how well you do at work, in school you are just doing it to get out of there, work you are doing it to get paid and sustain your living so you would work harder at a job than you did in school. Too many people go into college now thinking they are guaranteed a job when they finish and when it falls through they give up."because the GPA, more than any other one number, reflects the sum of what dozens of professors over a long period of time in many different situations think about your work"


text:
Hello Beautiful Heart Shower Curtain Polka Dots Mint Green - Deny Designs
Find Shower Curtains at Target.com! Splish splash have a blast while taking a bath! The Allyson Johnson Hello Beautiful Heart Shower Curtain by Deny Designs is made from 100 woven polyester with buttonhole openings to hang it. Featuring a pop of art and vibrance, the Allyson Johnson Hello Beautiful Heart Shower Curtain by Deny Designs will have you turning that boring bathroom into one of the focal points of your home! Color: Mint Green. Gender: Unisex.
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1 location
2707 Schofield Ave
2707 Schofield Ave
Schofield, WI 54476


text:
Nouveau chez / New at: "Studio Sidhe" by Faery Sola
Introducing today the first bag for men by Faery Sola for Studio Sidhe. Its texture looks incredibly real, and the seams on the leather are very realistic too, not to mention the buckles! I wish I could touch it to feel the leather's grain! LOL
It comes conveniently in three versions, one for carrying it by hand, two other over the shoulders with a strap. You have two sizes for this version, fitting big and more reasonably sized avies. The leather case is, of course, moddable, and as it is copy no transfer, you will make a backup copy before anything else, then mess with it until you are perfectly happy with the result! The price (250 Lindens) is more than fair for such a good texture and prim work. What else? Other colors maybe? I know, I know, I'm an insatiable freak! I wish a dark brown to complete this beautiful reddish brown, and a black version, obviously.
I show it with an outfit by Chez Nabob, another version of the new Mhaijikal ring by Mhaijik Guillaume, in gold this time, always with the same asymmetrically arranged diamond pavement.
Last but not least, another hair creation from Aemilia Case for Philotic Energy.
I know everyone is hanging out in the gorgeous sim of a content creator specialized in raising the hype and whose business is, among other things, to sell hair. Yawn. Please don't spend all your money here. It's good to not be mainstream sometimes, you know? Just stop by the first floor of Lemon in the charming sim of Imogen and look at the work of Aemilia. Did you hear me talking about personality? Yes you did.
[Click on the picture to enlarge]
Style, Photography: Ben Vanguard
• Cartable / Briefcase:
:+:SS:+: Mens Leather Case [Hand Held] (250 Lindens/pack including 2 over shoulders lenghth and the hand held; Perms: C/M/NT),
by Faery Sola,
@ Studio Sidhe, Stadtrand (29, 237, 22)
• Pull, Pantalon de velours / Sweater, Corduroy Pants:
CHEZ Crimson ribbed T long sleeves (untucked) - (300 Lindens/pack of 4 versions tucked & untucked, long & short sleeves; Perms: NM/NC/T),
CHEZ Oatmeal cords - (150 Lindens; Perms: M/NC/T),
by Chez Nabob,
@ CHEZ: Fine Clothing for Men, Bali Hai, Bali Hai (161, 233, 28)
• Volume pour manches / Filler for sleeves:
Filler for sleeves (all sliders to 100, but shirt fit: 4, Sleeve looseness: 8; RGB: 90, 24, 22) - (50 Lindens, Perms M/C/NT),
by Ben Vanguard,
@ Slmen.com Headquarters, Birchwood (72, 206, 392)
• Chaussettes "Pieds nus" / Bare Feet Socks,
Tintable Barefoot Socks - setting : Color RGB (113, 108, 102) (FREE, Perms: C/M/NT),
by Robin Sojourner,
@ Robin Sojourner, Livingtree Island Center, Livingtree (135, 121, 24)
• Souliers / Shoes:
[savvy avvy] mens shoe Walnut Brown (300 Lindens, Perms NM/C/NT),
by Mathfew Alonzo,
@ savvy avvy, Hake (55, 102, 21)
• Bague / Ring:
Mhaijikal Rings stacked gd (100 Lindens, Perms: M/NC/T),
by Mhaijik Guillaume,
@ Jewelry Mhaijik Things, Pheosia (59, 212, 152)
• Coiffure / Hair:
*Philotic Energy* Faris-Black (150 Lindens/color, 600 Lindens/6 tipped, 1200 Lindens/10 colors & 6 tipped, Perms: M/C/NT),
by Aemilia Case,
@ Philotic Energy at Lemon, Imogen (171, 9, 65)
• Yeux / Eyes:
EyeFidelity RealEyes - Sharbat Bright (o) Outdoor version - SbZ (100 Lindens, Perms: NM/C/NT),
by Zada Zenovka,
@ Shapes by Zada - stunning shapes and eyes, Kusawa (221, 115, 36)
• Skin:
FNKY! Antonio Tan - Rugged (1850 Lindens, Perms: M/C/NT),
by Funk Schnook,
@ FNKY! & Cake, FNKY Cake (128, 45, 24)


text:
Prediction time!
Here are three names that might see increased usage in 2014, thanks to popular culture…
I've been hearing a lot about Boyhood (2014) recently. The movie, which took 12 years to film, stars Ellar Coltrane as a boy named Mason. The baby name Mason has become quite popular within the last 12 years, but Ellar remains entirely off the radar. Is that about to change?
Two of the biggest storms to hit the state of Hawaii, Iniki and Iselle, both happen to start with the letter I. We know Iniki influenced the baby name charts back in the early 1990s, but we'll have to wait and see about Iselle. What do you think — will we see more babies named Iselle in 2014?
(Ignacio, Isis, Irwin, Ileana and Ivo are the I-names on reserve for future storms in the area.)
Never overlook reality TV when it comes to baby names. A relatively new show called "Treehouse Masters" includes a cast member called Seanix. If the name Carmindy can last on the charts for 6 years, I think Seanix certainly stands a chance. What do you think?
Other 2014 predictions so far include Lammily, Lacey and Zarina. Do you have any more to add to the list?
Source: Pacific Tropical Cyclone Names (Central Pacific Hurricane Center)
Image: 8/8/2014 0152Z Tropical Storm Iselle by SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce


text:
Review: Is it a card? Is it a wind tunnel?
PowerColor PCS+ HD6950 2GB GDDR5 (Vortex II Edition) is a high end graphics card based on AMD's Cayman GPU featuring 1408 shader units and 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
As the name suggests, this is no ordinary graphics card. The PCS+ stands for factory overclocking where the GPU is overclocked from 800MHz to 850MHz and memory from 1250MHz to 1300MHz, but it's the cooling system that truly separates this card from the rest of the HD 6950 pack. So far, we've had a chance to see a couple of nice HD 6950 custom cooling solutions, although the reference cooler is also efficient. Still, with Vortex II cooler, PCS + HD 6950 card definitely looks meaner than the reference HD 6950.
Below you see a GPUZ screenshot that confirms the clocks on our Radeon PSC+ HD 6950 Vortex II card.
The card comes in quite small but sturdy and attractive packaging. PowerColor PSC+ HD 6950 Vortex II looks pretty nice and the hood makes the card resemble the futuristic racing car pictured on the box.
PowerColor included all the necessary accessories, such as DVI-to-VGA converter and miniDisplayPort-to-DisplayPort converter. Standard sized HDMI is already on the card.
The cooler is dual slot and packs two fans. Although massive, it's not too heavy since it's mostly aluminum. The frame is made of plastic. It looks futuristic and it most certainly is. The fans, which normally lean on the heatsink, can be lifted off in order to get better airflow.
In the Vortex, mode the card extends into the third slot. You'll need to adjust the fans separately and couple of handles and a light push will do the trick. The fans on PSC+ HD 6950 Vortex II can be moved even when the card is running, but make sure that it's screwed tight to the back panel.
While the dual fans provide a lot of airflow, they also blow a lot of hot air inside your case. But by lifting the fan, it allows the fan to absorb the cooler air from bottom of the case, balancing ambient temperatures. You can event incline the fans slightly so the airflow is aimed at either end of the card, and as a consequence it will reduce turbulence and help heat spreading effectively from hot areas.
The fan is 92mm in diameter and is connected to the 3-pin connector. Fan speed regulation can be performed via the Catalyst Overdrive or any other tool you may prefer.
Power Color Radeon PSC+ HD 6950 Vortex II's cooler has four 8mm thick heatpipes. The copper heatpipes differ in length, which also makes sure that heat is evenly distributed throughout the entire block.
HD 6950 Vortex II card is equipped with 2048MB GDDR5 memory. The GDDR5 memory chips are made by Hynix (model number H5GQ2H24MFR-T2C). They are specified to run at 1250MHz (effective 5000MHz), but on this card the memory runs overclocked at 1300MHz. The memory chips are exposed and do not have a passive cooling solution on top of them.
The video outputs reflect the standard Radeon HD6950 design. The I/O panel features two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, HDMI 1.4a and two DVI connectors (one of them is single-link with a maximum resolution of 1920x1200). By using DisplayPort outputs it's possible to chain up to six monitors to a single card. You can run four monitors directly from this card by using two mini-DisplayPort connectors, the HDMI connector, and one of the DVI connectors. As far as sound goes, HDMI 1.4a provides Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, AC-3, DTS and up to 7.1 channel audio with 192KHz/24bit output.
Unlike the HD 6800, HD 6900 comes with two CrossFire connectors. This means that you can use four cards in a 4-way CrossFire.
The card also features a dual-bios toggle switch that makes bios updates a breeze. Setting 1 is unprotected for user updates, while setting 2 is the protected factory default mode.
Radeon PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II will require two 6-pin power connectors. Software GPU voltage control is possible due to use of CHiL's 8228G voltage regulator which supports voltage monitoring via the I2C communications protocol and comes with extensive monitoring and tweaking features. CHiL's 8228G voltage regulator provides the 8-phase power but only 7-phase power is used for this card.
Motherboard: EVGA 4xSLI
CPU: Core i7 965 XE (Intel EIST and Vdrop enabled)
Memory: 6GB Corsair Dominator 12800 7-7-7-24
Harddisk: OCZ Vertex 2 100 GB
Power Supply: CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 800W
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X
Fan Controler: Kaze Master Pro 5.25"
Operating System: Win7 64-bit
Nvidia 275.20_desktop_win7_winvista_64bit
The results we got after unlocking shaders are included in the tables below. Using Techpowerup's how-to, Winflash and PowerColor HD 6970's BIOS (clocked at 940MHz for the GPU and 1425MHz for the memory), we managed to turn our PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II into a PCS+ HD 6970 Vortex II (PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II unlocked). We also included HD 6970 results (overclocked to 940MHz) to see whether unlocking and overclocking of our PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II was successful. As you can see, it was. You can find more details on unlocking this card in the 'Overclocking' section.
3DMark 2011
Aliens vs Predator
Unigine Heaven
HD 6950's reference clocks are 800MHz for the GPU and 11250MHz for the memory. Our today's PowerColor card's clocks are 850MHz for the GPU and 1300MHz for the memory.
AMD Overdrive wouldn't allow clocks higher than 900MHz for the GPU or 1350MHz for the memory, but the same limitations apply in MSI Afterburner as well. In order to solve this, try some kind of driver uninstalling software like cleansweep, because you need to clear all driver settings before a fresh install.
You're aware that HD 6950 cards can activate additional shader processors within the GPU. Using Techpowerup's how-to, Winflash and PowerColor HD 6970's BIOS (clocked at 940MHz for the GPU and 1425MHz for the memory), we managed to turn our PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II into a PCS+ HD 6970 Vortex II.
As soon as we restarted the computer, GPUZ confirmed we're running 1536 shader processors and at overclocked HD 6970 clocks.
Bear in mind that not all HD 6950 will allow for unlocking. In fact, our readers have confirmed that only certain PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II cards will support this. It is possible that PowerColor handpicked most Cypress Pro cores that can do this and is selling them as AX6950 2GBD5-P22DH ++, which comes with 1536-shader enabled BIOS pre-installed on the card and accessible via the switch.
We fired up AMD Overdrive and saw that Catalyst Control Center recognizes the PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II as a new graphics card. As you can see, the earlier limitation is gone after strapping the card with new BIOS, which suggests that the problem was in PowerColor's BIOS.
The results we got after unlocking shaders are included in the tables below. You can find Aliens vs. Predator testing results here whereas the rest is in the 'Test Results' section.
It's important to note that HD 6970 cards require one 8-pin and one 6-pin connector, while the PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II comes with two 6-pin ones. In order for the new GPU (now with 1536 shader processors) to run at its max, you'll have to do some PowerTune tuning. In the AMD Overdrive section of the Catalyst driver, you'll have to set the Power Control settings slider all the way to the right (+20%). This will make sure that the overclocked GPU gets more power during gaming.
The next table shows results we got when Power Control slider was in default position, as well as after allowing the GPU to draw more power. We measured about 20W higher consumption in AvP after setting the slider all the way to the right.
Power Consumption
We measured almost 70W higher consumption after unlocking (with the GPU at 940MHZ) and additional 20W higher in AvP after setting the power slider inside Overdrive all the way to the right.
Thermals and Noise
PowerColor PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II's cooling has proven it's a quality solution that will keep the card well cooled, regardless of whether it's in idle mode or under workload. GPU temperatures didn't exceed 78°C during our gaming tests. The cooler was almost inaudible in idle operation (37°C). The cooler wasn't loud, not even in intensive GPU operation.
After unlocking additional shaders, the Vortex II cooler was audible enough to be called loud, but bear in mind that we are talking about an overclocked card (940MHz for GPU and 1425MHz for memory). Still the PCS+ HD 6950 Vortex II (unlocked) cooler is never as loud as the reference HD 6970's cooling.
PowerColor PCS+ HD6950 2GB GDDR5 (Vortex II Edition) is a graphics card with one really efficient and stylish dual-fan cooling system.
The Vortex II cooler has two moveable fans which can be moved away from the fins, they're quiet even during intensive gaming, and the card is factory overclocked from reference 800MHz to 850MHz which gives extra performance punch on the card.
The only downside to this dual slot cooler is that the card with two raised fans (Vortex position) will take up three slots. However, Vortex position results in only minimal cooling improvements over the default fans position (two slots) so the GPU will cooled just fine either way. The temperatures were around 78°C during gaming tasks, whereas idle mode resulted in temperatures around 37°C.
The results show about 6% performance increase compared to reference HD 6950, but you can always overclock it further because this PowerColor card has a Vortex II cooler that lets you do it.
The downside is that this card is priced at about €240, here, which is more than €40 higher than the reference version. Of course, that sort of cash can get you a reference HD 6970. On the other hand, this is an overclocked card with a specially designed silent cooler that will definitely be bragging material. Furthermore, we effectively managed to turn it into a HD 6970 with Vortex II cooling by unlocking all 1536 shaders.


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It seems hard to find much information on any of the old sheffield profiles. What were the most notable makes at the time in terms of quality of steel, grind and profile. Does anyone own any old sheffield knives which are still part of your kit? What are their characteristics. I imagine them to be fairly mighty, flat grind pretty beefy behind the edge and relatively soft. So what was the best of them, the cream of the crop at the time? I feel silly as an englishman asking you lot for info on british knives. But hey ho:razz:


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Product Overview
Turning guts into cute plush pillows was the brainchild of Wendy Bryan, an illustrator obsessed with internal organs and all that they do. Wendy designed her plush organs, so they can appeal to all age groups -- from the pre-schooler first learning about what's on his or her inside or the senior citizen who has an organ not quite working as it should. Much more, fun to give than a card or flowers.
The brain pillow is approximately 11 ½" x 8 ½" x 5" and comes with a booklet with fun facts about the brain.


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Gisele Bündchen Shows Off Baby Bump – in a Bikini
No stranger to showing some skin – especially when the runway beckons – Gisele Bündchen put her bod, including her growing baby bump, on display in Miami Beach, Fla., Sunday.
No maternity clothes, no problem!
The expectant supermodel, 32, whose pregnancy first gained buzz in June, enjoyed the sunny weather in a leopard-print bikini.
The Brazilian stunner, married to football pro Tom Brady, is already mom to Benjamin, 2½, and stepmom to John, 5, Brady's son with ex Bridget Moynahan.
Her expanding brood has already changed their lifestyle, she told PEOPLE last year. "We really do love to travel, but being parents, we travel less now than we have in the past," Gisele said.
Still, she added, "There is nothing more rewarding than to come home and seeing them after a long day of work."


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NJ Municipal Salaries Would be Capped Under Legislation [POLL/AUDIO]
New Jersey State Senator Sam Thompson plans to introduce legislation next week that would cap the salaries of employees at local sewerage, utilities and county improvement authorities. The legislation will also end other employee perks funded by public dollars.The legislation is the result of a series of reports Townsquare Media did on the salary and perks of Richard Pucci, executive director of the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA) and the mayor of Monroe Township.
Pucci's most recent contract with the authority gives him an annual $210,000 salary and a $400 per month car allowance. He also receives 25 vacation days, 14 holidays, and is entitled to full pension and health benefits, as well as compensation for unused vacation days. Based on his years of service, if Pucci continues working through 2016 under his current contract and then retires, he will be entitled to an annual pension payment that exceeds $150,000 per year.
"There's a lot of justification for it," said Pucci. "I've been there since the beginning. I started it as one employee and now we're over 600 employees so it's not as if I'm a Johnny-come-lately. I've been here since the beginning. I'm a professional. That's my career."
Years of service would not matter under Thompson's bill. His legislation would cap the salaries of employees at local sewerage, utilities and county improvement authorities at the maximum salary for State Cabinet officers, which right now is set by statute at $141,000.
The bill would also bar employees from receiving a car, an allowance toward the purchase or lease of a car, and an expense account. Employees would also be banned from receiving a public payment in lieu of health insurance, if that employee receives health insurance and it prevents annual sick day payouts.
The bill would apply to new contracts.
"This bill is to put a muzzle and leash on piggish public employees who think they can fill their gaping maws with the people's money, because no one knows who they are or what they do," said Thompson. "Newsflash to them: more and more people are starting to realize that you make excessive incomes and are afforded outlandish perks."
Thompson said the legislature must immediately pass this legislation to put an end to the type of indefensible greed that makes New Jersey frustrating for taxpayers. "This legislature has capped school Superintendents' salaries, we've made bipartisan pension and benefits reform to cap annual pension payments so employees such as Mr. Pucci cannot collect pensions that the system cannot support."


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Phoenix Suicide — Suicide Girl of the Day
Phoenix is a professional artist who says she spends most of her time looking at naked women. Weird, that's how we describe ourselves, too.
NAME: Phoenix Suicide
OCCUPATION: Professional artist
NATIONALITY: 1/2 chinese + 1/2 french/scottish = Wabi-sabi perfection
GETS ME HOT: Men, women, nudity, suits, bikinis, confidence, pretty eyes, tattoos, neck biting and hair pulling.
FAVORITE POSITION: Doggystyle
SIGN: Sagittarius
I AM LOOKING FOR: Whoever comes along.
MY KINK FACTOR: I'll try anything once, especially if you beg for it.
I WANT: Romance, booty and friendship
INTO: Epiphanies, art, editorial photography, watching stylish pretty girls, dancing to music, sex, and reading philosophy.
NOT INTO: Ego, especially when it's unconsciously flaunted as a virtue.
I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Looking at naked women.
SuicideGirls is a community that celebrates alternative beauty and alternative culture from all over the world. Since 2001, tens of thousands of models have submitted millions of photos to their website hoping to become SuicideGirls.


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After having an opportunity to see the majority of top prospects in the state of Michigan perform at some type of camp or combine, here is the updated top player list for the class of 2014 from SpartanMag.com:
1) DB Damon Webb of Detroit Cass Tech High School: Ohio State
The future Buckeye put in dominant performances at multiple camps this spring. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Webb sought out the best competition at every event and was equal to the task.
2) DL Malik McDowell of Southfield High School: Uncommitted
At 6-foot-6, 290-pound his size and athletic ability has coaches from around the country intrigued. McDowell plans a post-season decision.
3) LB Byron Bullough of Traverse City Saint Francis High School: Michigan State
His camp performance last week at the Spartan Camp solidified that the 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker could be the next outstanding Bullough to wear green and white.
4) WR Drake Harris of Grand Rapids Christian High School: Michigan
Harris did not do a lot on the camp scene this spring. The one he did attend he was solid, not spectacular. This fall is when the 6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect will continue his assault on the record book.
5) DE Lawrence Marshall of Southfield High School: Michigan
Marshall's recruitment was hotly contested between Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Briefly a Buckeye commitment, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound prospect will now chase OSU and MSU quarterbacks.
6) LB Deon Drake of Detroit Cass Tech High School: Michigan State
He has been recovering from knee surgery the past few months, but is closing in on 100%. The 6-1, 215-pound Drake hopes to help Cass Tech win a 3rd straight championship.
7) WR Maurice Ways of Detroit Country Day School: Michigan
Ways has had several strong performances this spring elevated his stock. At 6 feet, 195-pounds he has a physical build similar to Wolverines great David Terrell.
8) TE Matt Sokol of Rochester Adams High School: Michigan State
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound TE prospect stood out at the Rivals Camps Series, Sound Mind Sound Body and Michigan State camps. Now, it is back to quarterback this fall.
9) QB Tyler Wiegers of Birmingham Detroit Country Day: Rutgers
Solid pro-style quarterback that showed well at Rivals Camp Series. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect has all the tools to be an exceptional quarterback for the Scarlet Knights.
10 ) DT David Beedle of Clarkston High School: Uncommitted
The 6-foot-5, 285-pound prospect performed well at multiple camps and his offer list has expanded accordingly. He now holds more than 15 scholarship offers.
The Spartans and Wolverines each have 3 of the top ten. What Malik McDowell does will likely determine who ends up getting the decision in the in-state recruiting battle. McDowell is viewed by most as a strong lean to the Wolverines. McDowell transferring to Southfield from Detroit Loyola to play with Lawrence Marshall should do nothing but enhance the chance he ends up in Ann Arbor.
The Spartans offered Beedle earlier this week after having an opportunity to see him at their camp and at Sound Mind Sound Body. Beedle is one of the fastest rising recruits in the state along with Ways and Sokol.
One aspect not noticeable in the list is the fact that the University of Pittsburgh has done a nice job of recruiting in Michigan this year. The Panthers currently have commitments from OL Connor Hayes of Traverse City West High School and WR Avonte Maddox of Detroit King High School. Those two players are ranked just outside the top 10 at No. 12 and No. 14, respectively.
Matt Dorsey is a recruiting analyst for SpartanMag.com and Rivals.com


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By Serena Norr
Pregnancy can be a mysterious aspect of life. Some people can get pregnant rather easily while others have difficulty conceiving. To help Mother Nature along, many couples look at trying various services and products on the market to help them understand their ovulation to have a better chance of having their own bundle of joy in a few months. Here are some of the best ways you can try to conceive.
Note: These are suggestions to assist with your pregnancy. Please speak with your doctor before you test out any of these methods.
Visit Your Doctor
The first step is to talk with an ob-gyn, a midwife, or a reproductive endocrinologist to discuss your medical and family history. This is a good way to discuss your concerns with fertility and discuss everything from your lifestyle to your eating habits. During your visit, your doctor will also take blood, give you a gynecological exam and test for sexual transmitted diseases.
Stop Using Birth Control
This might seem obvious, but it bears repeating: you will need to get off birth control if you want to conceive. When you stop taking the pill or remove an IUD, your fertility will return rather quickly, however it may take longer with Depo-Provera shots. This should be discussed with your doctor but it also something to factor in with the timeline of when you want to have a baby.
Figure out Ovulation
Timing is everything when you are trying to make a baby and knowing the often forgotten basics of ovulation can really help you with conception. Basically, an egg can only survive for 12-24 hours after ovulation whereas sperm can live for 48 hours to 72 hours after sex. To increase your chances of conception, you will need to figure out when you are ovulating. Most women have a cycle once a month every 24 to 35 days and ovulation occurs around 14 to 15 days before a woman gets her period. To keep track of everything (and avoid confusion) mark the day of your last period on a calendar so that you can be aware of when your body is ovulating and the most fertile.
Know Your Basal Temperature
Your basal body temperature will also help you to determine when you are ovulating. To determine your temperature, you will need a basal body thermometer that will need to be taken every morning. This will help you see a pattern of when you menstruate (noted by any temperature spikes) so that you can understand when you are ovulating.
Try an Ovulation Predictor Kit
These days you can also learn more about your ovulation by using an ovulation predictor kit. Available at all drugstores, these kits determine hormones in your pee, which can be indicated around 24 to 36 hours before ovulation. This is generally indicated with a symbol or smiling face noting that it's 'go time' for procreation.
Try a Fertility Monitor
A fertility monitor is another way to track hormones and estrogen in your body for women who are not on any birth control or fertility drugs. This is a time-consuming option where you will have to test for six-seven hours where you will insert the stick into a monitor. Through the monitor you will know if you are at low, high, or peak fertility. You will have to use at least 10-15 sticks through the course of a test period to know if you are ovulating.
About the Author:
A Brooklyn-based writer and mom of two, Serena Norr created her original blog Seriously Soupy as a way to learn more about soups and to experiment with new ingredients. She also writes about healthy living, parenting and lifestyle topics on her blog Mama Goes Natural.
The most effective methods for trying to conceive.


text: "Hopelessness of a situation in life is not decided by what we must do without; but what we may learn to draw strength from hope an unknown quantity. This hope is all we can tease out of ourselves– religion, morality and social identity are all mercurial colors that we flash in translating it. Our hope must stand the wave of helplessness that is from without. Those who have survived shall know when the storm is past they found strength because it was a genuine article, their character".


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Sermon delivered October 14, 2007.
R.G. LeTourneau, the owner of a large earth-moving equipment company tells the story. "We used to have a scraper known as the model 'G'. Somebody asked one of our salesmen one day what the 'G' stood for. The salesman, after thinking a few seconds, replied, "Well, I guess the 'G' stands for 'Gossip', because like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt and moves it fast."
In today's gospel reading, the 4th Sunday of Luke 8:5-15, Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower. He says that the seed is the Word of God. By inference we know that God is the sower. We confess in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that God is the creator of all things. Fashioned in God's own image and likeness, we humans also have the ability to create. Thus, we are co-creators with God. We are also co-sowers with God. We too can spread the seed, the Word of God. By witnessing to what is right, good, holy and true, we help to plant Jesus Christ, in the hearts and minds of those around us.
However, we can also plant other types of seeds. If we are doing or saying things that are not right, good, holy and true, then we are planting bad seeds. In fact, one could say we are spreading herbicide that kills the true seed. In doing this, we are no longer being creative. Rather, we are being destructive. Good seeds are words/actions of love, encouragement, praise, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, peace, joy. Bad seeds/herbicide are words/actions of criticism, gossip, slander, envy, malice, hatred, jealousy. Good seeds produce more of the same good things and help people to work together to create more good. Bad seeds produce more bad things that sow dissension, division, doubt. Destruction is their end.
What is an example of a bad seed? Returning to our earth-moving scraper example, gossip and slander can be very destructive. Referring to gossip as 'dirt' reveals its true nature. Gossip is messy news that does not reflect well on its subject. If it's really bad, it's referred to as 'mud' and gossip or slander is called 'mud-slinging'. Gossip moves fast because of two reasons. One, we have the habit of sharing juicy tidbits about someone with other people as soon as we hear it. It's like a hot potato that must be passed along as quickly as possible. Even if it's only shared with two people, we have just doubled the gossip. If they do the same, it's an exponential increase. The second reason, gossip moves fast is because we want to hear what's wrong with other people. We actually ask for it. "So what's the dirt on George? Have you heard anything about Georgia? No, I haven't heard but tell me what you've heard that's going on at St. George."
As gossip moves fast, the destruction spreads. The spoken word is a powerful force. When we hear unflattering news about someone, it sticks in our mind. Once there, it colors and distorts our perception of that person. We tend to see them, their words and actions, as motivated by these negative characterizations. The saddest part is that what we have heard about them is often untrue. Many of us are familiar with the gossip game or experiment to show it's nature of distortion. A group of people are put in a line, the first person whispers something gossipy in the ear of the person next to them. That person passes it along in the same way to the next and so on down the line until the end. The last person then says out loud what they heard. More often than not, it's substantially different than what the first person said.
If gossip is so destructive, why do we allow it, why do welcome it, and why do we share it? Looking back at Jesus' teaching today, He says that the good seed, the Word of God, takes root and grows in a noble and good heart. Bad seed or gossip will enter and take root when our heart is lacking in goodness and nobility. In other words, it's the condition of our heart that causes us to participate in the sad and real game of gossip. We may have resentment and bitterness specifically towards the person we gossip about. These same negative feelings may cause us to speak out and hurt others with whom we have no specific issue. A sense of inadequacy or alienation can motivate us to get in the middle of gossip and become an important person, an insider who has news to share.
What's the antidote to gossip? In bible study last week we discussed the Parable of the Sower. We learned that we must guard the garden/field of our heart by getting off the busy wayside. Gossip travels when people are too busy to pay attention to the effect of their words and how it tramples people under their feet. We learned that we must actively pull out the weeds and thorns of earthly pleasures. When gossip arrives at our hear, we have a choice to spread it or kill it, to think about it or forget it. We learned that a good and noble heart is one that is regularly tilled and turned over with self-examination, repentance and confession. Without this, our heart turns hard and callous and becomes more vulnerable to the temptation of idle talk.
In conclusion, the Sacrament of Holy Confession is the supreme antidote to gossip and slander. Why? In confession, we do not talk about others, but we talk about ourselves and our own dirt. Through our words, the guidance of the priest and the forgiveness of God, all the anger, bitterness, hurt, and inadequacy are washed away and we become clean again. Through this katharsis or cleansing, all our bad, gossipy news leaves us and dead-ends, never to be heard or talked about again, in the confidentiality of our spiritual father on earth and God the Father in heaven. Amen!
Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews is the pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fr. Andrews is the past president of Minnesota Eastern Orthodox Christian Clergy Association (MEOCCA), and a volunteer chaplain with the St. Paul Police Department.


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Charles Rex Arbogast / AP file
Seward Johnson's 26-foot-tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe depicts her famous wind-blown pose.
She was a star and a style icon, a "dumb blonde" who was anything but and an abandoned child adored by millions. She was, of course, Marilyn Monroe and she died 50 years ago this Sunday.
And yet, she lives on — on the big screen, in advertisements, in proposed plans for salons and cafes and, of course, in the hearts of fans fascinated by her life, her beauty and her untimely death.
"People relate to her because she came from a very humble background and through her own drive pulled herself up to become one of the greatest stars of all time," said Greg Schreiner, president of the Marilyn Remembered Fan Club.
Slideshow: Memories of Marilyn
While her death was tragic — and a subject of more macabre fascination — it also spared her the indignity of aging in public, guaranteeing that she would be remembered as she was in her prime.
"She was an incredibly beautiful woman," said Schreiner, "and she retained that beauty by dying at 36."
Little wonder, then, that fans will be flocking to sites affiliated with Monroe during the coming days and weeks. If you'd like to pay your respects, here are several places to go:
Los Angeles
From her birth at Los Angeles County Hospital to her extraordinary Hollywood career to her untimely death in Brentwood, Monroe will always be tied to Los Angeles. For casual fans, the most accessible stops on a commemorative tour include her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6774 Hollywood Blvd.) and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where her hands (and shoe prints) are immortalized in concrete in the theater's forecourt.
For a more in-depth view, head around the corner to The Hollywood Museum, which is showcasing "Marilyn Monroe: The Exhibit" through Sept. 2. Said to be the world's largest collection of Marilyn memorabilia, the exhibit features outfits, items from her home and never-before-seen photographs by celebrity photographer George Barris. Now 90, Barris will be on site on Saturday to share stories and sign copies of his book "Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words."
Palm Springs, Calif.
Two hours east of L.A., Palm Springs is celebrating Monroe in a big way — and we do mean BIG. In May, the city unveiled "Forever Marilyn," the 26-foot-tall sculpture first installed in Chicago in 2011. With her skirts billowing à la "The Seven Year Itch," the monumental sculpture will stand as the centerpiece for a weekend of Marilyn-inspired events.
On Friday evening, the city will host an outdoor showing of "The Seven Year Itch" at the site. On Sunday, Elton John tribute artist Jeffrey Allen will headline a free, one-hour concert. Goodbye Norma Jean, indeed.
New York, N.Y.
For Monroe, New York represented a turning point as she sought to escape the strictures and stereotypical roles mandated by the 1950s Hollywood studio system. Today, that low profile is echoed by a lack of commemorative events, although travelers can have their own Marilyn moments at several spots throughout the city.
There is, of course, the original skirt-billowing subway grate used for publicity photos — it's at Lexington Avenue and East 52nd Street — but other sites linked to Marilyn include the Actors Studio (432 W. 44th St.), where she took acting lessons, and Madison Square Garden, where she famously warbled "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to JFK.
Florence, Italy
Florence, Italy, may not be on the radar of the average Monroe-ophile but is celebrating her legacy as a style icon nonetheless. At the Gallery Hotel Art, visitors can view "On the Heels of Marilyn," an exhibit of 22 black and white photographs of the star, through Sept. 15; nearby, the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo will showcase photos, film clips and outfits from her career through Jan. 28, 2013.
As it turns out, the Marilyn connection is no accident, as both the hotel and the museum are owned by the Ferragamo family, whose high-fashion footwear Monroe reportedly favored. It's also fitting, so to speak, since the late star is often credited with the quote, "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."
Los Angeles, revisited
Alas, Monroe couldn't conquer her own personal issues and died of an overdose of barbiturates in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 1962. Shortly thereafter, she was interred at what is now called Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, which hosts a memorial service in the park's chapel in her honor every year.
This year's event will likely be the highlight of a long weekend of Marilyn tours, movie screenings and commemorative events throughout Los Angeles. Open to the public, the service starts at noon and will be followed by a reception hosted by Schreiner's group at the Westwood Presbyterian Church fellowship hall.
"We expect people to come from all over the world," said Schreiner. "Even in a normal year, we get a lot; this year, we're going to see a huge crowd."
Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
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Rudyard's British Pub
2010 Waugh Dr
Houston, TX 77006
Food, Beer, Music, Comedy, Darts. We have it all.
Basement Jaxx
The production duo of Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton released several of Britain's most respected and enjoyable progressive house anthems of the '90s and early 2000s from their base in South London. Before they met (at a Thames riverboat party organized by Buxton), Ratcliffe grooved to the deep Latin funk of War and George Duke while Buxton was turned on to Chicago house. Ratcliffe and Buxton formed Atlantic Jaxx Records in 1994 and were undoubtedly honored to count among fans of their first release none other than DJ legend and Basement Jaxx influence Tony Humphries, who played "Da Underground" from the EP on his New York mix show consistently during 1994-1995. For their second release, the duo recruited vocalist Corrina Josephs, who later became practically a member of the team herself.
The 1995 single "Samba Magic" was picked up for distribution by Virgin, and in time, Basement Jaxx were drawing praise from all corners of the American and British house community as one of the top house production units. The pair spent much of 1996 working on remixes (for the Pet Shop Boys, Roger Sanchez, and Lil' Mo' Yin Yang, among others), then released a third Basement Jaxx EP. One track from the EP, "Flylife," became a Top 20 hit in England after being re-released by Multiply in mid-1997, and the single proved one of the most popular anthems of the year on the worldwide club scene. Late that year, Ratcliffe and Buxton released a compilation of their most crucial Atlantic Jaxx sides.
After being courted by several major labels, Basement Jaxx signed to the independent XL Recordings (also home to the Prodigy) and readied their debut full-length, Remedy, for a 1999 release. Second album Rooty followed two years later, an outgrowth of the duo's similarly named club night. Kish Kash followed in 2003 and Crazy Itch Radio in 2006, while Singles was a well-timed stopgap release between the two albums. The duo's fifth album, Scars, was released in 2009, trailed by that December's Zephyr, a 30-minute download-only release that contained the duo's most exotic and ambient work to date. While virtually everything they released was rooted in house, Ratcliffe and Buxton mutated several styles (R&B, U.K. garage, ragga, Latin jazz, ambient techno) with an unmatched restlessness. They constantly shuffled the deck, all the while collaborating with an endless array of vocalists both known (including Biz Markie, Siouxsie Sioux, and Yoko Ono) and unknown. ~ John Bush, Rovi