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Red Sox - 000 000 010 - 1 2 0Greinke (6-2-0-3-5, 91) pitched as expected, with a nasty slider and a fastball at 96-97 with pinpoint control. He has now allowed only one earned run in his last 35 innings, over five starts.
Royals - 500 000 00x - 5 9 1
Byrd (6.2-9-5-4-0, 101) was also good -- as long as you forgot about his first 19 pitches. Four singles and two walks to the first eight Royals he faced put the Sox in a 5-0 hole. However, he was getting seriously squeezed by home plate umpire Andy Fletcher: two of the four balls he threw to Mike Jacobs in the first (who he walked to force in the first run) were clearly strikes. In the seventh, consecutive pitches to the exact same spot in the zone to Billy Butler were called a ball and strike.
Meanwhile, Greinke got a few calls on pitches 6-12 inches outside (two strikes to Ellsbury in the third and two strikes to David Ortiz in the sixth). The final outcome of the game was likely not changed, but it was still annoying and wrong, and Greinke did not need the extra help.
Boston's two hits extended the hitting streaks of both Victor Martinez (21 games, sixth inning single) and Dustin Pedroia (14 games, first inning double). Jacoby Ellsbury stole his 64th base of the year in the eighth.
KC has Greinke -- the only choice for the American League Cy Young Award among people with brains.
He had an 0.84 ERA through his first ten starts, his ERA did not go over 2.00 until the All-Star break, he has a 1.24 ERA in his last seven starts, and a 0.34 ERA (one earned run in 29 innings) in his last four starts. In his eight no-decisions, his ERA is 1.95.
If any writer(s) penalize(s) Greinke for his W-L record -- which is 14-8 right now because the Royals have scored more than three runs in only 11 of his 30 starts -- they should be locked up in a mental institution. Instead, they will probably be offered a job as an ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst.
Boston has Byrd, who a couple of months ago was spending his afternoons throwing batting practice to the Georgia Road Runners, the 13-and-under team his two sons play on.
Sometimes mismatches turn out exactly how they "should". Other times, they don't.


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Pakistani Christian Woman Tortured, Paraded Through Streets for 'Anti-Islam Views'
Seema Bibi, a Christian woman from Pakistan, was recently humiliated, tortured and paraded in the streets of her village by a mob who accused her of "anti-Islam views."
Some 30 or so residents of Kot Meerath, a village in Pakistan's Punjab province, dragged her out of her house, shaved her head and then paraded her in front of the village, police officials revealed. After the Feb. 26 incident, the Bibi family were forced to flee the village in fear of their lives.
"She and her family had been facing threats from a group of extremist villagers. She left the village as she had no other option," shared Aslam Masih, a resident of Kot Meerath, PTI News reported.
Police acted decisively by arresting 26 out of the 30 people suspected to have been involved in the attack, charging them with torturing Bibi. Regional police chief Muhammad Amin had no information about where the Bibi family had escaped to, but revealed that the woman had been assaulted for her Christian beliefs in the largely Islamic community.
Christians have long experienced a high level of persecution in the predominantly Muslim nation. Last week, Christians and civil society groups got together for candlelight vigils in Pakistan's major cities to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of the country's Christian federal minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, who spoke against the repressive blasphemy laws.
Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs and the only Christian in the country's cabinet, was shot to death by suspected Islamist terrorists on March 2, 2011 while he was on his way to a government meeting in Islamabad. The pamphlets found near the assassination scene bore the name of the terror outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab and stated, "Anyone who criticizes the blasphemy law has no right to live."
The blasphemy laws Bhatti opposed are embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code. These sections are often misused to target religious minorities – Christians, Shi'as, Ahmadiyyas and Hindus. They allow Islamist extremists to justify the killing of minorities and propagate their belief that killing a "blasphemous" person earns a heavenly reward. The laws carry no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy. Local Muslims are said to frequently seek revenge by making allegations against their adversaries who are non-Muslim.

subset: commoncrawl


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Despite a flurry of activities to adjust to the changed realities of the technology industry, Wintel is expected to suffer a declining share of the ?new? computer market, a category consisting not just of PCs but also of the much faster-growing smartphone and media tablet segments. Microsoft?s share of the operating system market for the three products combined is expected to slip to 33 percent in 2016, down from 44 percent in 2011, according to a report of IHS iSuppli. Meanwhile, Intel?s share of microprocessors will fall to 29 percent, down from 41 percent. At the same time, the total size of the market will double from 2011 to 2016, almost entirely due to the strong growth of the smartphone and media tablet segments. ?Microsoft and Intel once marched shoulder to shoulder, dominating the PC market with their closely tied operating system and microprocessor technologies,? said Craig Stice, senior principal analyst compute platforms at IHS. ?In the PC segment, Wintel extracted the majority of the profits, controlled every move and compelled all other players to either comply or risk being forced out of the game. ?While still an overwhelming influence in their respective markets, the tables have turned for Microsoft and Intel. With smartphones and tablets performing tasks previously exclusive to PCs, the computer market has expanded to include other platforms. ?As a result, Wintel finds itself in the unfamiliar position of dancing to someone else?s tune, following standards that were set by other companies for form factors, user interfaces and even pricing. This means Microsoft and Intel must think outside the box ? even if it means adopting strategies that work against each other?s interests.? Wintel outsmarted in smartphones IHS said 655 million smartphones will ship worldwide in 2012, nearly triple the total for mobile PCs. From a processor perspective, the ARM architecture long has been the leader in the smartphone market. Intel, although dominant in the PC world, has yet to make much headway in this segment. IHS said it estimates Intel has been able to capture only 6 percent to 8 percent of market share in the mobile handset processor revenue business ? with its small success in this area mostly due to the company?s acquisition of the wireless business of Germany?s Infineon Technologies. In the smartphone operating system segment, Android and iOS lead the pack. Microsoft?s Windows Mobile has fared even worse than Intel, with less than 2 percent share in 2011, although the company is expected to make advances in the market in the coming years. Headache tablets for Wintel Media tablets sit in the sweet spot between the smartphone and the notebook PC. Similar to that of the smartphone, the tablet growth rate is very strong throughout the forecast period. By 2016, IHS projects that media tablet shipments will surge to 311 million units, about equal to the total mobile PC market at 322 million. Tablets have given consumers a new choice for their computing needs and now are leaking into the corporate space due to their ultra-portability. Compared to the Intel options, ARM-based processors have generally ruled the media tablet market because of their low power and price. New players like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments are also dominating the processor market, leaving out Intel. Equally, Apple?s iOS and Google?s Android have controlled the operating systems for tablets, excluding Microsoft from the party. Win vs. Tel These developments represent a huge challenge for the two technology giants accustomed to industry hegemony. However, neither is sitting still, as the computer industry has witnessed more innovation in the last nine months than it has in two decades. Significantly, many of these innovations enlarge the schism that is forming between the two companies. If you can?t beat ?em? Intel?s response has been to go back to its bread and butter, the notebook, by making a complete overhaul of the system to make it ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultramobile. The ultrabook represents Intel?s bid to reignite the PC market and draw consumer dollars away from the other computing gadgets. However, Intel is also making moves to compete directly in the media tablet market. The company?s solution is to promote its Atom microprocessor directly to makers of Android operating system-based media tablets. For Intel, this represents a fundamental departure from the Microsoft-centric approach to the PC market and toward an operating-system-agnostic philosophy. Opening Windows Microsoft?s response is the Windows 8 operating system. The company has conducted a complete restructuring of its operating system, adding in the new ?Metro App? tile style, quick reboot, and touch-screen interface, just to name a few changes. All of these are features similar to what would be included in a smartphone or tablet. Just as with Intel, Microsoft?s response involves a step away from its traditional partner. One version of Windows 8, Windows RT, runs on ARM processor-based platforms. This is Microsoft?s attempt to disconnect from Intel x86 microprocessor-based systems to become platform agnostic. The new computer market ?Wintel now is playing in a new computer market that is a composite of the PC, smartphone and media tablet segments. While this may be a non-traditional way of looking at the PC market, tradition has gone out the window,? Stice said. ?The smartphone influenced the tablet, the tablet influenced the PC, the PC wants to become more like a tablet and the tablet more like a PC. It?s a vicious circle in which both Intel and Microsoft must take part, but they are losing control of the game and how it?s played. The Wintel camp is not accustomed to following, but with both companies being excluded of the two fastest-growing markets, they are in catch-up mode.? While this may be hard news for Wintel, the beneficiary is the consumer. ]]>
As ?Wintel? dominance wanes, Microsoft-Intel alliance frays
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PROMISE JOBS, "Promoting Independence and Self Sufficiency through Employment," is Iowa's TANF Employment & Training program designed to assist cash assistance recipients to become self-sufficient through participation in work ready activities. Program participants will develop an individualized Employment Plan outlining work ready activities in order to reach their individualized goals and reduce their dependency on the welfare support systems. A number of work ready activities are available to PROMISE JOBS participants, including:
- Assessments – Aptitudes and interest inventories are used to help participants determine their best route toward meeting their individual goals.
- Life Skills – Workshops covering money management, self-esteem, housing information, nutrition, parenting information, identifying personal goals, etc.
- Job Seeking and Skills Training – Workshops covering interviewing techniques, résumés, completing job applications, career exploration, networking, building skills and other work search information.
- Job Search/Job Coaching – Expanding and capitalizing on job search techniques in order to obtain employment with a livable wage.
- Employment & Community Service Opportunities – Obtaining/retaining full/part-time employment through unsubsidized employment, subsidized employment, self-employment, work experience, and/or community service opportunities to build and expand experiences and skills.
- Apprenticeship Opportunities – Education, training and employment option available to job seekers wanting to earn a wage while receiving specialized training in a skilled profession.
- Basic Education – Includes assistance with covering the costs and supportive assistance in order to obtain their high school diploma, HiSET (formerly known as GED) certificate, adult basic education, and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) to open doors to opportunities that provide sustainable earnings.
- Post-Secondary Classroom Training – Includes assistance with academic and vocational training and certification to prepare participants for careers that are in high demand.
- Parenting Skills – Classes that provide parents resources and techniques to adapt to demands parenting requires.
- Family Development Services – Supportive services to assist with addressing and overcoming the challenges and obstacles family and work place on participants.
- Family Planning Services – Classes that provide the resources to gain a better understanding on financial and social impacts of raising a family.
Additional information on work ready activities and services can be found at the local One-Stop office.
Supportive services are offered to program participants as they prepare to become work ready individuals. Services may include: transportation assistance, childcare, housing assistance, tuition/books, work related licensing, assistance with interviewing and work uniforms. Each local area has a network of community resources and supportive services.
Family Development Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) program partners with PROMISE JOBS to assist families build on their strengths, make connections to local resources, identify priorities, set goals and celebrate successes. For additional information and locations visit the FaDSS site
For more information on how to qualify for PROMISE JOBS or to apply, please visit the Iowa Department of Human Services site.


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"Avanade's methodology helped us eliminate siloed communication, leveraging Sitrion Social Site's full functionalities."
SolutionAvanade proposed Sitrion Social Site as a preferred solution, based on its compatibility and high connectivity with SharePoint, ability to handle large user volumes, and overall flexibility and versatility.
Business SituationRecognizing that pooling its intellectual capital was key to transforming its business performance and unlocking value, Fujitsu enlisted Avanade to implement its 'one company' vision through a global communication platform that leverages the 'global power' of its skills, assets, and knowledge and enables easy sharing of information, knowledge, and best practices.
ResultsThe solution will help Fujitsu reach employees working at its 151 locations, utilizing multi-device channels, resulting in improved information- and knowledge- sharing, better cross-functional team collaboration, enhanced proposal quality, smoother project implementations, increased communication frequency, and a strengthened sense of solidarity among Fujitsu employees.
In 2015, Fujitsu will extend the platform's footprint to include its nearly 170,000 employees operating from both Japan and its overseas offices.


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Cry of Blood From Boston
As we learn more about the Boston Marathon terrorists who killed four people, dismembered 14 and sent 282 to the hospital, the inconvenient truth is becoming clearer: The bombers were motivated by a homicidal strain of Islamic theology.
The more seriously Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev began to take their Islamic faith, it seems, the more the lives of innocent people were endangered.
Rather than moving them to love and serve their neighbors, their increased zeal led them to devise how to murder and maim multitudes.
It is certainly true that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and that most Muslim religious leaders help people understand jihad as the struggle to live faithfully the five pillars of Islam according to the teachings of the Quran.
It is also true, however, that there are murderous Muslims who follow religious leaders preaching a totally different version of jihad.
The latter school of interpretation of the Quran and the Hadith (the sayings of Muhammad) — pushed by belligerent imams, ayatollahs and mullahs in the Middle East and in certain mosques, taking advantage of the religious freedom of the West — argues that Allah in fact desires this violence against the innocent, that those who carry it out are model Muslims, and that those who die committing such attacks are true martyrs.
Just as it is absolutely wrong to treat all Muslims as terrorists, so it is absolutely naive to treat all Muslims as peaceful. There are serene Muslims and violent Muslims, both of whom claim to find their justification in the Quran and Islamic tradition. And a much greater effort needs to be made, by governments, the media and peace-loving Muslims throughout the world, to distinguish between the two — and to shame, subvert and supervene the latter.
Failure to oppose the theology of terrorism and violent jihad against innocent victims that is being inculcated and incited in certain madrassas, mosques and Muslim magazines is simply to invite more of it.
One of the reasons why this theology is not opposed sufficiently is because, in an age of religious pluralism and moral relativism, many secularists and secularized believers have lost the ability to make elemental moral distinctions among religions and religious practices. All religious must be treated the same, they believe; to criticize the beliefs or practices of one would show an intolerant and intolerable bias that one religion is somehow superior to another.
One of the common ways that this religious equivalency is done is to try to relativize Islam-inspired terrorist activities by comparing them to examples of Christian extremism. The disgraceful desecration of the Quran by the pastor of a 50-member Protestant church in Florida is therefore treated with equal opprobrium to the retaliatory murder of 58 Massgoers and the wounding of 75 more in Baghdad's cathedral.
Nowhere do these misleading and incommensurate comparisons happen more than in likening Muslim and Christian ideas of martyrdom.
When terrorists, out of supposed fidelity to Allah, fearlessly wear a suicide vest and detonate it in a café, on a public bus or at a checkpoint full of American soldiers, it is implicitly treated — because of an equivocation in the use of the term "martyrdom" — as comparable to the actions of Christian martyrs who have courageously given their lives out of faithfulness to their Triune God.
Both, after all, witness a commitment to die for one's faith. Both are exalted by their religions as examples for other adherents. Both are promised eternal rewards.
But the differences between them far outweigh the superficial similarities.
Christian martyrdom is an intended participation in Christ's own martyrdom and redemptive suffering. The Christian martyr patiently bears suffering, torture and execution out of fidelity to Jesus, who himself underwent similar stripes for them first. Like Jesus, the Christian martyr does not retaliate with force or hatred, but, rather, by turning the other cheek and praying for his persecutors.
Christian martyrdom is fundamentally passive, heroically receiving with resolve and without vengeance the evil of others.
On the other hand, Muslim martyrdom — or at least the understanding of martyrdom that inspires violence against the innocent — is fundamentally active. While it is certainly possible for there to be Muslim martyrs struck down for their faith without resistance, for the most part those venerated as Muslim martyrs have died in the battle to advance or defend Islam, their families, honor and lands.
While the Deacon Stephen is a model of Christian martyrdom, allowing himself to be stoned to death while echoing Jesus' prayer of forgiveness for his executioners and self-entrustment to God the Father, the Muslim paragons are Hamza, Muhammad's father-in-law, and Husayn, Muhammad's grandson, both of whom perished in battle to advance the cause of Islam.
The passive martyrdom of Christians is death for refusing to capitulate on the truth. The active martyrdom of Muslims is death while fighting for the truth, often while inflicting violence on those who refuse to accept their view of the truth.
The Greek word "martyr" and its Arabic equivalent, shahid, both mean "witness," but it's important to distinguish the type of testimony being given.
Christian martyrs are seeking to give witness to God who nonviolently allowed himself to be killed in order to save the lives of others.
Muslim martyrs seek to give witness to a God who, according to the Quran, delights in conquest and victory and commands Muslims to give their lives to defeat the enemies of Islam.
These are, to say the least, radically different notions of God and the type of devotion that pleases him.
The blood on the streets of Boston cries out to heaven for everyone, especially peace-loving Muslims, to condemn and confront with greater clarity and commitment the perverted theology that believes that the killing of innocent people is justified and that the terrorists who do so are heroes faithful to what God demands.
Father Roger Landry is pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River, Massachusetts,
and is national chaplain of Catholic Voices USA.
He provided expert commentary for EWTN during the conclave that elected Pope Francis.
- Keywords:
- June 2-15, 2013


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The Six Gallery in San Francisco's Marina neighborhood, west of North Beach, was a memorable site for Michael McClure to render the first public reading of his poetry, in October 1955. New to the city, to which he'd come to study art with abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, McClure had been asked to assemble a reading at the Gallery, a former garage that had become devoted to the visual arts.
McClure enlisted his new friend, Allen Ginsberg, to help recruit poets, who included Philip Whalen, Gary Snyder, and Philip Lamantia, with elder poet and long-time San Francisco resident Kenneth Rexroth functioning as emcee. The event is best remembered for Ginsberg's introduction of his long, passionate poem 'Howl,' cheered on by an inebriated Jack Kerouac.
McClure's own first book of poetry was published a year later, and he went on to produce many others, suffused with his animalistic approach to the human condition. (He considered people to be "bags of meat" and performed one of his readings for the lions at the San Francisco Zoo.)
Despite this call to the wild, McClure had a benign nature that was easily embraced, in the latter part of the '60s, by the Hippies. Like Ginsberg, McClure stood up to authorities, who accused him of depicting obscene acts in his play 'The Beard.'
McClure served as playwright-in-residence at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, penned the song 'Mercedes Benz' (made popular by Janis Joplin), and was acknowledged as a poetic mentor to Doors songwriter Jim Morrison.
Jack Kerouac wrote his chef d'oeuvre, 'On the Road,' in 1951, before the acknowledged emergence of the Beat culture, and set the start date of the narrative in 1947. But the incubation of the Beats was already in process by the earlier date, with the coming together in New York City of Kerouac, fellow writers Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, and the charismatic soldier of fortune, Neal Cassady. The foursome is featured in the Viking Press first printing of 'On the Road' (1957) under fictitious names.
Despite the pseudonyms (which incidentally weren't used in Kerouac's original manuscript, typed over a period of three weeks on a continuous scroll of tracing paper), many of the novel's events were based on the real-life experiences of Kerouac and his friends and acquaintances that took place during the period that the Beat culture was coalescing.
The book's title references four journeys made by Kerouac across the U.S. and Mexico, some in the company of Cassady. Cassady inspired Kerouac not only as a vital fellow traveler but also because of his own literary style: natural, without traditional literary affect, and forthright in recounting sexual adventures.
Although some of the racier episodes and the real names of the protagonists were edited out by Kerouac before the initial publication, they were mostly restored, 38 years after the author's death, for 'The Original Scroll' edition of the book, published in 2007.
Still, enough salaciousness remained in the first published edition of 'On the Road' in 1957, along with accounts of a marijuana-fueled foray into Mexico, to garner plenty of positive and negative reactions from Beats and the wider reading public. The book helped reinforce images of the Beats in general, and San Francisco (one of the featured locales) in particular, and was enormously influential on later writers.
Arguably the most widely recognized poem from the Beat era, and an enduring landmark in 20th century American literature, 'Howl' was revised several times by its creator, Allen Ginsberg, right up to the point of his first public reading of it at San Francisco's Six Gallery in 1955.
Ginsberg had written the long poem at his cottage in Berkeley at the urging of his therapist and of his poetic mentor, Kenneth Rexroth, while devoting himself to writing full time and striving to free his voice. He found models of expression in William Carlos Williams and in his fellow New York expatriate Jack Kerouac, but set out to create his own form of versifying, based on the repetition of key words and the basing of line lengths on the rhythms of breathing.
This incantatory form, somewhat evocative of Jewish liturgical text, supported the content of 'Howl,' which bemoaned the repression of a variety of counter-culture characters. In one of the poem's four sections, Ginsberg, inspired by an episode of peyote-fueled visualization, rails against the monster of contemporary materialism.


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Item 2272723
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Group: 591 killed in Venezuela prisons last year
Venezuela's latest bloody prison clash came after a year in which 591 inmates were killed in the country's troubled prisons, the deadliest toll yet during President Hugo Chavez's 14-year government, a watchdog group said Thursday.
The Venezuelan Prisons Observatory released last year's death toll nearly a week after fierce gunfire erupted at Uribana prison in the western city of Barquisimeto. The government said 58 people were killed on Friday when armed inmates clashed with National Guard troops who were attempting to carry out an inspection. Nearly all of those killed were prisoners.
The number of deaths in prison riots and other violence in 2012 was up about 5 percent from the previous year, and up about 24 percent over the number killed in 2010. The group also said 1,132 inmates were injured in prison violence during 2012.
Human rights groups called for a thorough investigation into Friday's violence and said the authorities used excessive force.
The riot was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in Venezuela's overcrowded and often anarchic prisons, where inmates typically obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards. Critics called it proof that the government is failing to get a grip on a worsening crisis in prisons where heavily armed groups control cellblock fiefdoms.
Humberto Prado, director of the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, said that his group's records show 5,667 inmates were killed in the country's prisons between 1999 and last year.
"The state contributes to them being violent. One, because it contributes to the traffic of weapons and drugs inside prisons, and two, because it makes prisons inhospitable," Prado said at a news conference.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro pledged to redouble efforts to improve the prisons and called for a high-level investigation.
Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela defended the authorities' actions in the latest violence and said groups of prisoners opened fire "on a large scale." She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after reports of clashes between inmates during the previous two days.
Emergency workers carried bleeding inmates to ambulances after the gunfire, while relatives of the prisoners wept outside, some collapsing with grief.
In one photograph amid the chaos, a bloodied inmate was sprawled face-down in the back of an ambulance, his arm dangling out the door.
After the violence, the government order more than 2,000 inmates evacuated from the prison and transferred to other facilities. Before they agreed to come out, some inmates set a fire in a prison yard where there were crudely built shacks made of wood and sheets of zinc, apparently burning potentially incriminating belongings.
Varela toured the smoldering prison yard last weekend, saying the government is fighting "mafias" within the penitentiaries. As for the now-empty Uribana prison, she said, "it became an icon of violence in Venezuela."
Prado disputed the death toll provided by the government, saying his group tallied a higher toll of 63 victims after visiting the morgue, the hospital and receiving accounts from victims' relatives. He said 61 of those killed were inmates, and that one National Guard soldier and a Protestant pastor also were slain.
It was the deadliest spasm of prison violence in Venezuela since 1994, and the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the past few years. In August, 25 people were killed and 43 wounded when two groups of inmates fought a gunbattle inside Yare I prison south of Caracas.
In 2011, Chavez created a Cabinet-level ministry to focus on prisons and appointed Varela to lead it. The president made that decision following a deadly, weekslong armed uprising at the prisons El Rodeo I and El Rodeo II outside Caracas.
Since Varela assumed her post, 869 inmates have been killed, Prado said. He and other activists charge that the new government ministry hasn't made real progress in addressing the crisis.
Venezuela has 33 functioning prisons built to hold about 16,000 inmates, and are packed with more than 48,000 inmates, Prado said.
Uribana prison was built to hold about 850 inmates. Varela said that when the violence erupted last week, the prison held about 2,400.
This week, the government extended for three months a previously declared emergency in the prison system, in a step that Varela said would speed construction of new prisons. The authorities have not recently showed any new prisons under construction.
In most of the country's penitentiaries, National Guard troops remain outside while the authorities largely leave internal control of the facilities to groups of inmates, some of them heavily armed. In recent search of prisons, the authorities have reported finding assault rifles, submachine guns, handguns and grenades.
Prado said that National Guard soldiers are often to blame for allowing guns inside.
"An important step has to be taken, and it's taking the National Guard out of the prisons," Prado said. "Who has the responsibility at the outside gate? It's the National Guard."


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Battlefield 4: Flood Zone map gameplay shown in new PC footage
Battlefield 4's Flood Zone map has been showcased in a new, unofficial video captured from the PC version of DICE's shooter.
The footage was taken by DSOGaming reader 'Ghost Rider LSOV' and can be found here. It's watermarked so I won't nick his clip.
It shows a flooded Chinese town being explored in Defuse mode. The map can become flooded by players which then changes all land vehicle spawns into boats. It's worth noting that Defuse mode restricts Battlefield 4's maps, so this appears to be a smaller version of Paracel Storm's environment. We'll know more soon.
Want more? We've got the all-new Battlefield 4 campaign trailer here.
Battlefield 4 is out October 29 in the States and November 1 in the UK and Europe for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It'll also launch on PS4 and Xbox One.
Via OXM.


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Thursday, 17 April 2008
All Aboard The Choc Star Express!
The 4 part show followed the fortunes of the hard working, determined and charismatic Willie Harcourt-Cooze in his efforts to turn his passion into a dream. With a huge love for top quality chocolate, Willie buys a cacao farm in Venezuela and the show sees him turn the bean into the bar. Hugely entertaining, realistic and with loads of Willie's brilliant simple recipes, it was a proper Sunday night treat.
In one of the episodes, Willie was seen teaming up with a lady called Petra to try out some hot chocolate recipes and then see what the public thought of them. Petra's orange infused chocolate was the winner. And how surprised was I a few days later when that very Petra emailed me with details about her plans, asking me if I wanted to participate?! For Petra has her own business selling choccy delights in her amazing converted ice cream van Jimmy, AKA The Choc Star Express.
Petra has hit the road with Jimmy on a culinary adventure to see what the folks of Britain have to offer. It is a fantastic idea, one that will hopefully spawn the most alternative of travelling books, and I will be delighted when Petra hits the frozen North East next month and she becomes our lodger for the evening.
I implore you to check out her Blog which is detailing her diary of events on the road. Get in touch with her, join her Facebook group, encourage her and most of all, enjoy her brilliant humorous approach to life via her writing. The world would be an incredibly dull place without people like Petra. And in dedication to her, I've attempted one of her recipes that I asked her to send me. Needless to say, it was simply brilliant and as you can see, it passed the Cerys test with flying colours. In Petra's own words, "It's like a cold, crunchy, dark slice of truffle and very moreish and so easy". What more do we need? Choctastic. See you in May Petra.
Chocolate, Almond and Orange Terrine
300g chocolate, min 70%
250g unsalted butter
A few broken fingers of shortbread (or digestives if you prefer...or any crunchy biscuit)
100g caster sugar
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
100g toasted flaked almonds
Grated zest of 2 oranges
A jolt of brandy (or Cointreau, or rum)
1 - Melt the chocolate in a bain marie with the butter.
2 - Whip the eggs together with the sugar - not too much but so they're well blended. Stir into the chocolate butter mix thoroughly.
3 - Stir in the broken biscuits, zest, almonds and booze. I also added a handful of glacier cherries.
4 - Pour into a medium loaf tin lined with good strong cling film and place in the freezer to set for a couple of hours.
5 - When you're ready to serve, remove from the freezer 10 minutes before, remove from the tin and peel off the cling film...and then slice that old rascal up.
21 comments:
- Sylvie said...
I loved that program, there was just the right balance between absolutely delicious food, new things to learn and wonderful chaos and eccentricity. The terrine looks really yummy, I haven't made one in ages.
- 17 April 2008 at 19:03
- Megan said...
What a luscious terrine. I just adore high cocoa chocolate it is the only chocolate for me.
- 17 April 2008 at 22:04
- Jacqueline Meldrum said...
Almost before you could blink, I had copied this recipe down! It looks fab!
I loved the tv series and was feeling a bit sad and lost when Sunday passed without it! I never managed to scribble down any of the recipes, so thanks for this David.
ps I like the new photo!
- 17 April 2008 at 23:36
- Cynthia said...
200th post! congrats! I have not even reached 100 yet (lol)
- 18 April 2008 at 01:56
- aforkfulofspaghetti said...
Ooooh, a choc terrine - count me in for a slice, please!
- 18 April 2008 at 08:27
- aforkfulofspaghetti said...
BTW - what size loaf tin, please, David?
- 18 April 2008 at 08:28
- David Hall said...
Sylvie - glad you agree, I loved it and he came across as such a determined but lovely fella. Lots of respect for him. Can't find his website anywhere though?!
Megan - and so easy to make, please try it, you wo't regret it.
Holler - I felt the same, nothing on a Sunday now is there? The recipe is one of Petras, check out what she is up to, amazing. Glad you like the photo! Me and me little sous chef.
Cynthia - you have done less than me but have a HUGE following so you must be doing something right!
FOS - You will have a battle on your hands! As for loaf tin size, hmmmm, hard to judge as the loaf tins I seem to buy are all the same size! I guess a medium loaf tin is the answer. Hope that helps!
- 18 April 2008 at 09:20
- Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...
If Cery aproves this recipe then I am in David:D Thanks for pointing out the site and I'll look forward to the adventure:D
- 18 April 2008 at 19:13
- Angel said...
Wow that looks so delicious! I want a bite aaaaaaaaaah.
The show sounds interesting I wonder if I could find a copy of it here in the usa.
- 18 April 2008 at 22:34
- Rosie said...
Y-E-S please I'll come aboard the choc star express!! I had the recipe noted down in a flash *giggle*. Wonderful recipe thanks for sharing :)
Congrats on your 200th post!
Rosie x
- 19 April 2008 at 12:14
- Deborah Dowd said...
This terrine looks like it has enough chocolate flavor to assuage any chocoholic! And thanks for the link to Petra's blog- can't wait to check it out!
- 19 April 2008 at 13:36
ooh, how exciting! Sadly, I missed the show as I've been so busy lately. Everyone kept urging me to watch it and I couldn't! Ah well, maybe they will repeat. That is very exciting that you are getting involved. The recipe looks really deliciously indulgent. I'm feeling al little worse for wear today and I could really do with a slice of that.
- 19 April 2008 at 16:29
- Coffee and Vanilla said...
Looks delicious :)
I'm glad to hear that Cerys loves green apple bag... I have the same one with red apples and my daughter sometimes try to carry it but she is still too short ;)
- 19 April 2008 at 18:26
- Coffee and Vanilla said...
Just a short note that you have been awarded with "E for Excellent" Award :)
Ciao, Margot
- 20 April 2008 at 15:00
This is really interesting! It looks fabulous. I've never tried to make a terrine of any sort.
- 21 April 2008 at 16:50
I loved the show too - it was great.
I have also bought his chocolate or rather cocoa now - from Waitrose. It is my nightly treat to grate it to make real hot chocolate...fantastic.
Thank you for telling me about Petra's adventures. Sounds fantastic.
- 21 April 2008 at 18:43
- Squishy said...
Gimme gimme gimme that chocolate lovin, oh baby. Tis heaven for a chocoholic like me.
- 23 April 2008 at 11:49
- Petra Barran said...
Wow - glad the truffly terrine hit the c-spot. It is one of my most craved and I always carry one in the freezer for cheeky little slithers along the way...
Thanks David - see you in a few weeks!
- 23 April 2008 at 23:39
- Aimée said...
Really nice, David. This would be such and elegant desert for a dinner party.
- 29 April 2008 at 21:03
- davidovitch said...
By sheer coincidence Dave, Petra and her van were parked on our very drive yesterday. Best strawberry sorbet I've ever tasted, even (10 month old) Ivan agreed. Astrid had chocolate and told me later that it was 'really super super yummy'. So you've got much to look forward to.
Hope you and yours are well,
David & Caroline in sunny Leeds
- 12 May 2008 at 10:53
- Sam Sotiropoulos said...
David, by the looks and contents of your food posts hereon, I readily volunteer to be a lodger in your home for one night too! I shall now add you to my reader as I don't want to miss my invitation. :)
- 16 May 2008 at 05:40
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City Guide
1) Cancun and the Riviera Maya are OPEN to visitors. As of today, there are NO special requirements, health tests, or quarantines required to visit.
2) YOU MUST reserve transportation services with a company that is in COMPLIANCE with the New Health and Safety Regulations and Protocols. Click here for a list of transportation services available to passengers arriving at Cancun Airport. For your benefit, some rates have been discounted up to 50% from the regular rates.
IATA Code: CUN
ICAO Code: MMUN
Phone: +52 998 848 7200
Address: Carretera Cancun-Chetumal KM.22 Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico 75220
Longitud: 86° 52' 37"
Latitude: 21° 2' 12"
World Area Code: 148
GMT: -6.00 hrs.
Cancun International Airport (CUN) is one of the busiest airports in the Caribbean and the point of entry to the "Mundo Maya". Every year millions of people visit Cancun and the Riviera Maya and the number of visitors is expected to increase rapidly thanks to the new mega-resorts already in construction all over the area.
Major international airlines as well as charter airlines have direct or connecting flights to Cancun every day. Now more than ever Cancun Airport International is easy accessible from almost every major city in the world. With first class shops, restaurants and services, Cancun Airport is one of the easiest most convenient airports to fly to/from in Mexico.More
If you are visiting Mexico you need a Tourist Card which is an Entry Immigration Form that details information about your visit to Mexico. The Tourist Card is per person regardless of age and how long you will stay in Mexico. The information you provide in the Tourist Card is kept by the Mexican Immigration Authority as an official record of your visit to Mexico.
NO, you DO NOT need to send us your passport. On the application form we will ask you for the information we need from your passport in order to process your Tourist Card. When you land in Mexico you will be required to present your passport and your Tourist Card to enter Mexico.
There are two (2) parts of the Immigration Form, the Entry Form & the Exit Form. We will email you both forms already completed with the proper information and when you arrive in Mexico you will immediately proceed to the immigration booth at the airport where the immigration officer will keep the ENTRY Part of your form and he/she will stamp the Exit Part of the form which you will keep while in Mexico. When you are checking in for your flight back home, you will present the Exit Part of your form along with your passport.
No, Cancun is a resort with its own hotels and
attractions. The Riviera Maya is the area South of
Cancun which has become very known thanks to the new
mega-all inclusive-hotels and attractions such as
Xcaret and Tulum.This is the most common question we
get from people traveling to Cancun. From breast milk,
to live animals, to medicine, to cigarettes, gift bags
for your wedding, etc. If you are coming from ANY
country outside of Mexico then there are limitations
on what you can bring into Mexico. The same goes for
what you can take OUT of Mexico. Because this is a
CUSTOMS question it is better that you check with your
nearest MEXICAN CONSULATE prior to your trip to
Cancun. Here is a link to Mexican Consulates around
the world:
Please be aware that we WILL NOT answer to emails regarding CUSTOMS questions as we are not authorized to give official information. Please contact your nearest Mexican Consulate for details and documentation.
Yes, and as such it is regulated by international treaties and laws.
Cancun is located in the Northeast point of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Ocean.
No, Cancun is a resort with its own hotels and attractions. The Riviera Maya is the area South of Cancun which has become very known thanks to the new mega-all inclusive-hotels and attractions such as Xcaret and Tulum.


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Artist Albrecht Durer"Albrecht Durer was one of the great masters of sixteenth century art. His innovative paintings, engravings and woodcut book-illustrations were the conduit through which the ideas of the Italian renaissance passed to northern Europe. Durer was born in Nuremburg in 1471, the son of a goldsmith. He was first apprenticed to his father, and then to the painter, Michael Wolgemut. When his apprenticeship ended he travelled around Germany and then southern Europe, where he was influenced by Giovanni Bellini. On his return, already a noted painter, he sought the company of academics and broadened the learned side of his work. In 1512, he took the position of Court Painter to the Emperor Maximillian, further confirming his reputation, and became famous for the brilliance of his work. He travelled extensively and caught a fever, probably in the swamps of Zeeland, but continued working tigerishly until his death. He is most renowned for his woodcuts and engravings, and it was in the field of graphic work that he made the greatest impact. He mastered the art and through his tutorship vastly improved the European standards in this field. He was the first artist completely to produce his own book, the Apocalypse, where he acted as artist, printer and publisher. By contrast, his paintings were few in number, but he brought a great advancement to the genre of landscape painting with his tremendously atmospheric images."
Read the full biography Albrecht Durer »


text:
I know this alpha but would like to put some sites up that will help Starfall players in naming systems.
I usually name the star and then use roman numeral numbers on the planets.
For example.
System 101 - Mars (Star)
System 101 planet 0 - Mars I
System 101 planet 1 - Mars II
System 101 planet 2 - Mars III
This is just a suggestion and it's easier.
Battletech Unviverse Star System:
http://battletech.rpg.hu/mechfactory_fr ... ll=planets
http://battletech.rpg.hu/dynmech/planet ... =5&id=1943
Eve Online Star System:
Elite Dangerous:


text:
|Cincinnati, OH
|High School:
Notes: Finished his career with 1,021 points and 494 rebounds... Seventh all-time at Yale in career field goal percentage (.525)... Six career double-doubles.
2008-09: Team captain... Named second team All-Ivy... Finished seventh in the Ivy League in scoring (13.6 ppg.) and field goal percentage (.489) and fifth in rebounding (5.9 rpg.)... Recipient of the Dutch Arnold Award as team most valuable player award at post season banquet... Led team in scoring and rebounding... Yale's leading scorer in 14 games... Four double-doubles... Named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All District I first team... Academic All-Ivy selection... Scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in home victory over Brown... Scored a team-high 20 points against Alabama.
2007-08: Second team All-Ivy selection... Finished eighth in the Ivy League in rebounding (5.4 rpg.)... Second on the team in scoring (10.2 ppg.) and rebounding... Shot a league-best 64.2 percent from the field in 12 Ivy games ... Recipient of the Dutch Arnold Award as team most valuable player at post season banquet... An Academic All-Ivy selection... Named the Ivy League Player of the Week after scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the home victory over Brown... Posted double-doubles against Cornell (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Vermont (11 points, 10 rebounds)... Scored 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting against Fairfield... Missed the Harvard and Dartmouth home weekend with an injury.
2006-07: Started 25 games... Tied for third on team in scoring (8.7 ppg.) and second in rebounding (4.3 rpg.) and blocks (14)... Shot 52.2 percent from the field... Had 10 double figure scoring games... Tallied his first career double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds) in a victory over Longwood... Scored 19 points in home win over Harvard. Was 8 of 10 from the field and grabbed six rebounds... Scored 15 second-half points in home win over Dartmouth. Was 9 for 9 from the foul line... Made his first career three-pointer against American... More than 100 of his family and friends sat together in the visitor's corner of UD Arena cheering him on against Dayton, which is just 30 miles north of his Cincinnati home.
2005-06: Started five games, the most of any freshman... Tied for third on the team in blocks (11) and was sixth in scoring (5.6 ppg.)... Shot 56.1 percent from the field in 27 games... At the team's post season banquet, was presented with the John C. Cobb Award as Yale's top freshman... Was twice selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week... First honor came after he scored 14 points against Hartford. In 18 minutes off the bench, made 5 of 8 shots from the field and was 4 of 6 from the foul line... Earned recognition again after scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the home victory over Brown... Against Cornell was 6 of 7 from the field, scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds.
Before Yale: A first team all-conference, second team all-district and honorable mention all-state selection at Princeton High School... The school's all-time leading scorer... As a senior averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 blocks... Named the co-Most Valuable Player of the Ohio-Kentucky All-Star game after scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Personal: "Big Sib" for Ezra Stiles College at Yale... Yale Youth Day volunteer for four years... Two-time all-state selection in water polo at Princeton High School.


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Guests: Richard Wolffe, Michael Smerconish, Clarence Dupnik, Mark Potok, Cynthia Tucker, Emanuel Cleaver, Jim Moran, E. Steven Collins, Daniel Hernandez
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let's go to a higher level.
Let's play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I'm Chris Matthews in Washington.
I want to focus tonight on the crosshairs. If you don't want to hear what I'm saying right now, just go to your desktop or BlackBerry and look up the word "crosshairs." It'll make the same point. Just go to Google and write, "crosshairs" under the news. It'll take you to one person, one American political figure in this country. It's the person who's made crosshairs her political signature.
Want to know who this person doesn't like? Just check the crosshairs. It's how this particular American politician IDs the preferred target, right there in the crosshairs. "Don't retreat," comes the command from the same politician that same day, "reload." Reload (ph), of course. Don't forget to check those crosshairs when you do about the enemy is.
Well, last spring, before she was shot, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said that she was in the certain politician's targeted list, that she had been put in the crosshairs of a gunsight on that politician's Web site. Congresswoman Giffords drew her own conclusions. Quote, "When people do that, they've got to realize there's consequences to that action." Well, now, after the shooting and the deaths, the politician who put Congresswoman Giffords and others in her crosshairs has put out word that those crosshairs are really something else, something to do with surveying, that they're not the bulls eye this very politician herself said at the time they were intended to be.
Well, that's not the way this crime's going to get written up in the history accounts. It will include an account of how Congresswoman Giffords had been targeted, placed in the crosshairs of a gunsight prior to the attack by one person, former governor Sarah Palin.
Now, with all the history in this country in support of the 2nd Amendment, there's also an up-to-date history of rejecting politicians who use the threat of gunplay against other politicians. Sharron Angle, for example, out in Nevada talked of "2nd Amendment" remedies against Congress and the need to, quote, "take out Senator Harry Reid." The opponent of Debbie Wasserman Schultz invited voters to shoot at a human-shaped target that had her initials next to it. Well, voters don't like politicians who do this kind of thing. They're both out of the picture now.
Well, as Republican consultant Todd Harris put it in the newspaper today, Governor Palin is now missing an opportunity to show that she's a leader at a higher level. Let's see whether she joins the country in saying that however we may disagree in this country, people shouldn't be talking about guns, reloading them or targeting them, as a way to solve political arguments. It's in the governor's hands.
Let's bring in Cynthia Tucker of "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" and MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe. Lady and gentleman, both of you—this is an unusual juxtaposition, a politician who's sort of done all this sort of targeting and somebody who gets show, and there is all happens and we watched it all. So we have a fairly vivid evidence of, if not causality -- (INAUDIBLE) I wouldn't argue causality—the language meaning and then the reality of the meaning.
CYNTHIA TUCKER, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Indeed.
MATTHEWS: You use words that mean certain things, and then those certain things happen, and you wonder, Should I have used those words? I think most people would think like that. Governor Palin has yet to say she shouldn't have talked like this.
TUCKER: And that's the least that she has to do. She went much too far in her use of incendiary, violent imagery. Did she mean to incite anyone to violence? I'm sure she didn't, and it's not clear that she did. We don't—
MATTHEWS: What did she mean to do when she had a target—put up these crosshairs? No matter what she says, that's what they are—put these crosshairs—we're looking at the map now of various congressional people she wanted taken out, if you will. And then she used the word "bulls eyes" that day and talked about reloading that day. It's clear she was using this ballistic language. Why did she use that? Is this cowgirl? Is this Annie Oakley stuff? What is it?
TUCKER: Very much so. You know, she cherishes her image as the Alaska frontierswoman, tough, self-reliant. She's tougher than any Democrat. She's the mama grizzly.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
TUCKER: But that language, that rhetoric, that imagery can certainly go too far. And all she had to do was say, I wish I hadn't said that. I am so sorry that this happened. I shouldn't have used that language, those images. And she hasn't done that.
MATTHEWS: Well, Richard, get in here. Here's what she tweeted in March of last year to promote that map. Quote, "Commonsense conservatives and lovers of America, don't retreat, instead reload." And then "Look at my Facebook page." And then she says, "Go look at that map" with all those targets on it.
She's constantly throwing this all together. Now, we know she knows what a gunsight is. She posed for it on the TLC channel the other night with that shooting that caribou that was standing there. She obviously likes that imagery of that gunsight. What's it all about? Is this something you need to do on the right now—
RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well—
MATTHEWS: -- to encourage people to get involved in voting?
WOLFFE: I think there is—
MATTHEWS: Voting?
WOLFFE: There's cultural politics at play. And by the way, Democrats have been playing with that cultural politics, too. I mean, Congresswoman Giffords was pro-gun, although she voted for—
MATTHEWS: That's not guns in politics.
WOLFFE: But there's cultural politics that she was playing, saying, I
speak to this American culture, this Western culture, that maybe the
president or other people don't. But there is a line that she crossed over
in using "reload." And by the way, that e-mail that she sent to Glenn Beck
we've heard very little from her recently, but when she says, There will be no peace with (ph) politicos seek to capitalize," there's a vague threat in there.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
WOLFFE: All of this stuff has threatening—
WOLFFE: -- underlying threat Sorry?
MATTHEWS: What's it mean? Let's get into the language here. What's she talking about when she says there's no going to be any peace?
WOLFFE: Well, this is—
MATTHEWS: No justice, no peace? I remember that one growing up!
WOLFFE: This is part of the idea that your government is out there trying to threaten you, take away your freedoms, and that faced with those threats—
MATTHEWS: OK, here's her spokesman. And Glenn Beck's a broadcaster, as well,, but here he is offering himself up sort of as her spokesperson or intermediary. Here he—he's recounting an e-mail exchange he had with Palin. Let's listen.
GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, FOX NEWS HOST: I said, Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. And I know you're feeling the same heat, if not much more, on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please, look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down. She wrote back, in part, I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence. Thanks for all you do to send the message of truth and love and God as the answer. Sarah.
MATTHEWS: Oh, I love these people that speak for God. I don't know what—I think if Palin doesn't correct this quickly and surgically and remove herself from this conversation—it's not about 2nd Amendment. That's in the Constitution. It's about bringing guns to political events, which has become a new norm.
We're going to talk later in the show about Congress people who've said, I'm going to carry a gun now to political events—
TUCKER: Yes.
MATTHEWS: -- to defend myself. We've got guy showing with auto—semi-automatic weapons. I've argued with them on the air. Why do you bring guns to—it's the juxtaposition of guns and political events were talking about and the bringing of gunplay and the language of it, not in the 2nd Amendment arguments, but in the general political discourse. That's what's different here.
TUCKER: Well—
MATTHEWS: It's not defending the right to own a gun. It's saying, I want to bring a gun to political—let you politicians. I talked to a congressman from Pennsylvania today. He said that people come to his political events now carrying guns. That's how they show up at political events. And he's got to look out at the crowd—Nice to meet you, guys.
TUCKER: Well—
MATTHEWS: I see you're armed!
TUCKER: In the debate for the—to head the Republican National Committee the other day, the—
MATTHEWS: Oh, yes.
TUCKER: The people were asked—
MATTHEWS: How many guns do you want?
TUCKER: -- How many guns do you own?
MATTHEWS: What is the relevance of that?
TUCKER: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: And Then one guy says, I'm an addict, but I only have four guns, making a point, I suppose.
But let's take a look. Here's somebody who is sort of an associate of Sarah Palin, Rebecca Mansour. She's a conservative radio talk show host on -- and she says this to Tammy Bruce, talk show host, on Saturday. This is the kind of defense we're getting. Let's listen.
REBECCA MANSOUR, PALIN AIDE: We never, ever, ever intended it to be gunsights. It was simply crosshairs like you'd see on maps.
TAMMY BRUCE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's surveyors. It's a surveyor's symbol. Rebecca—
MANSOUR: A surveyor's symbol.
BRUCE: Yes. And—
MANSOUR: No, but I Just want to—just want to say this, Tammy, if I can.
BRUCE: Please.
MANSOUR: You know, this graphic was done—you know, it was done not even in house. We had a professional who does political—you know, political graphic artist, you know, consultant do this for us. So we saw it really quickly and we said, yes, that's fine. That's great. And we had never even imagined or it occurred to us that anybody would interpret it as violence because it's not.
MATTHEWS: OK, this is idiotic. This is—everybody knows what a gunsight looks like. Everybody knows that Sarah Palin is very familiar with the imagery of a gunsight. She's out there doing it on television with a big telescopic lens with a gun—gunsight. She—the language was "bulls eye." The language was clearly "lock' and "reload" and everything.
And now to come out and say it has something to do with surveying details -
TUCKER: She's digging herself in deeper here.
MATTHEWS: -- is nonsense. She (INAUDIBLE) answers. I will say this again. If she doesn't get off of this and stop trying to have somebody else skate her off of it, like Glenn Beck or this person, Mansour, she is going to be erased as a potential candidate.
WOLFFE: Well—
MATTHEWS: You cannot run like this. We can disagree.
WOLFFE: We're going to disagree. But look, first of all, it doesn't make any sense. Doesn't pass the smell test. And if they didn't think—
MATTHEWS: Why is she hiding? Why is she in a bunker right now?
WOLFFE: If they didn't think there was another interpretation for this, then that's political malpractice right now. They should have thought this through, and none of that stacks up. Whatever she said on that—
MATTHEWS: Well, what's "reload" mean? Reload your surveying equipment?
WOLFFE: I agree on that. But the question here—the bigger question about leadership in this moment is, What are people looking for? Are they looking for someone who's actually going to increase those divisions and talk about, you know, the threats that we all face, the threats to your children, or someone that brings the country together?
MATTHEWS: Let's take a look at Tim Pawlenty. He's apparently going to run against her for president, if they both run. Here he is on "Good Morning America." Let's listen to Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota.
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY ®, MINNESOTA: Wouldn't have been my style to put the crosshairs on there. But again, there's no evidence to suggest that that had anything to do with this mentally unstable person's rage.
MATTHEWS: Well, there you have it.
TUCKER: Well, you know, Pawlenty makes a good point, that there is no evidence that this is in any way helped to motivate Loughner, if he's guilty. But let's be clear that Palin's rhetoric was over the top, and that's what she should say. And she should stop trying to paint herself as the victim. In that entire Glenn Beck tirade, it was as if Sarah Palin was the victim. Well, we have several people dead, including a 9-year-old child. We have a congresswoman fighting for her life. For heaven's sakes, Sarah Palin, come out and say, I shouldn't have said that, I'm very sorry I did, and let's all get together and pray for the victims.
MATTHEWS: As long as she lives, Sarah Palin will be checkable on
Google. You can look up "crosshairs" and "Gabrielle Giffords," and you
will get Sarah Palin and the crosshairs. Check it out. It is never going
away unless she deals with it. And if she doesn't deal with it, she will
always be the candidate who put Giffords in her crosshairs before Giffords
was shot. And that is powerful imagery, and she ought to deal with it
instead of hiding in a bunker. Who's ever advising her to hide right now -
and you know, she is pretty talkative. Where's she been now for five days, except she doesn't know what the hell to say? And I got something to say. I made a mistake. Fix it. We've all made mistakes.
Cynthia Tucker, thank you, Richard Wolffe.
Up next, so much for cooling the hateful rhetoric. Rush Limbaugh has attacked Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff who blamed the specter of violence in part on the heated talk we hear on radio. Sheriff Dupnik joins us here live next.
You're watching a special edition of HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Former U.S. congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, of course, lost two uncles to assassins' bullets, President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. He says there's an obvious connection between the violent rhetoric of today's political landscape and the shooting in Tucson. Kennedy told Politico, quote, "When Sarah Palin puts targets on people's districts or you have 10,000 signs on the Mall during the health care battle saying 'Bury Obamacare with Kennedy,' when the vitriol and the rhetoric is so violent, we have to connect consequences to that.
HARDBALL we'll be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Well, Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik has triggered a war of words with the right wing after he singled out what he termed the vitriolic rhetoric from talk radio and some on TV for perhaps playing a role in this shooting out there in Tucson.
On Monday, Rush Limbaugh said the sheriff was making a fool of himself. Dupnik, in turn, called Rush irresponsible.
Here's how Rush responded to all that just today.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is on the path here of attempting now to expressly personally associate me with this event.
We have a law enforcement officer, the sheriff of that county, admitting he's got no facts for what he's speculating about. I don't know. Maybe Pima County would have been better served by a real sheriff, one who spent his time trying to lock up nutbags and criminals, rather than finding ways to excuse them. He hasn't pointed out a single thing that I have said that would inspire such a heinous act.
MATTHEWS: Well, Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik joins us now. Looks like you've got Rushbo all riled up there. Let me ask you about what you make of that. Did you know you would open up a hornet's nest from the right radio?
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: No, I had no idea.
MATTHEWS: Well, you have. And the question is, what do you make of it? Do you think that's the right thing to do? On second thought, do you think there is a connection between the atmospherics, the hatred of government you hear every day on radio, the hatred of Obama you hear on the right wing, the language you hear all the time that they're evil and that they're taking over the country with socialism, et cetera, et cetera. Do you think that had anything whatever to do with this person's behavior in this tragedy?
DUPNIK: There's no doubt in my mind. Particularly troubled personalities, which is what we're dealing with here, are very vulnerable to the emotion that comes out, especially anger, hate, paranoia, and so forth. And when you were talking about Sarah Palin—I happen to be a not -- only an admirer and somebody who respects Gabby Giffords, I was involved in her campaign.
And you talk about the crosshairs on Gabby Giffords. Well, I want to tell you that her opponent, who was heartily endorsed very vocally by Sarah Palin, had an event, a fund-raising event, where the people were invited I think to a barbecue or something with the—after the barbecue, if they wanted to, they could each come up and fire an automatic rifle, a semi-automatic rifle. And this same individual had hundreds of campaign ads starting out by saying, Are you as mad at Washington? Boy, I want to tell you, I sure am.
MATTHEWS: You know—
DUPNIK: And so I think we're talking about the same thing.
MATTHEWS: What do you make of Palin? I mean, it's not just the crosshairs, which I tell you, and I believe this, she'll always be identified with now historically, no matter—you look up crosshairs on Google now, you get Palin. It's just a fact because of that map she put out. And she talked about bulls eyes and she talked about reloading. She's constantly using this ballistic language. She poses with a big rifle and a big telescopic lens on it shooting a caribou. She seems to love this idea of portraying herself as sort of an Annie Oakley character.
What about bringing guns? I mean, they're talking now—you're a law enforcement official. This -- - people now show up at political events carrying guns. And I asked them, Why would you bring a gun to a political event, not to a hunt? Well, I hope it's not a hunt. And they say, Well, I have a right to. And I say, yes, you have a right to do a lot of things, but why are bringing a gun to a political event? And here's this guy who shows up with a gun.
And my question is, as a law enforcement official, suppose 20 or 30 people show up with guns? How do you know which one's the nut?
DUPNIK: Well, and you don't, and you don't know which one is going to be enraged at any given second and start using that weapon.
MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you about this. Suppose you were to find out—well, let's take a look at Rush. Here he is accusing the Democratic Party of trying to politically profit from this shooting. He said Democrats were hoping for an event like this. Let's listen to his line of reasoning.
LIMBAUGH: Powerful Democrats wished for this! It happened on Chris Matthews's show. Powerful Democrats wished for this as a means of an opportunity for the president to shore up his sagging base, poll numbers, of what have you. Voila.
In two months time, we have a nutcase opening fire in Tucson, Arizona, and, lo and behold, leading Democrats are conducting strategy sessions with the president on how he can use the right words to maximize this event.
They want to lay this on me or Palin, when we had nothing to do with it, yet leading Democrats actually hoped for this.
Interesting conspiracy theory, isn't it?
MATTHEWS: If you're a conspiratorial nut, I guess so.
But the fact is, Mark Penn, who is a centrist, not a man of the left by any stretch of the imagination, was on this program, not talking about how the left can settle scores with the right after a tragedy, but how, if anything like that were to happen, how the president could be a peacemaker, how he could be a man of the center, like Clinton was after Oklahoma City, not how the left could get even with the right or could exploit it to hurt the right, but how to calm things down.
It was a totally different proposal. In fact, it wasn't even a proposal. It was a statement of what might happen if it did happen. It wasn't a conspiracy plan, like Rushbo is alleging for his full-mooners out there.
But your thought. I guess we have to get back to this environmental question, Sheriff. And you're right in the thick of this. You know, when Lee Harvey Oswald, a man of the communist world, went after Jack Kennedy and shot him, and all the evidence was he had been disillusioned with Soviet communism, was infatuated with Castro, he was a man of not the left, but of the communist world, it was also in a context of Dallas being a city that really had a real problem with Kennedy.
How do you connect, however, the right and the left in this regard? How do you connect environmental atti—atmospherics, rather, with bad psychology, with sickness? How do you connect them?
DUPNIK: Well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but from my point of view, I would ask the question, who is upset the most about the anger and hatred and prejudice being generated in this country? Is it the right or the left?
And, second of all, I would ask the question, which political party is benefiting from anger at the government?
MATTHEWS: Well, I suppose the Republican Party this year, right? So, therefore?
DUPNIK: And, well, therefore, I anticipate that the nut people in the radio—some of the nut people, I should say, in the radio and the TV business are going to continue to inflame the public with hatred until after 2012.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
You know where I agree with you? I don't know cause and effect. I'm not sure you do. But I do agree this villainization of the government, the use of the term the government, not our elected officials, not our democracy, our republic, but the sense that the government is this evil force that has nothing to do with us, that we didn't elect it, even though Republicans now are proud to say they have elected the Congress, this sense that the IRS is evil and all this stuff, I think that plays into the hands of the nut bags.
Anyway, thank you, Sheriff Dupnik, for coming on HARDBALL. You're welcome back at any time.
Mark Potok is director of intelligence—of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
It's great to have you back on.
Tell me about this case when you heard about it and what your professional reaction was when you heard about the shootings out in Tucson.
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Well, of course, the first reaction was, it was a horror show. To listen to Limbaugh quoted on your show saying that Democrats hoped for this, hoped for the murder of, you know, six people and the wounding of 14 others, fairly amazing statement.
My reaction was to go and look and try and discern from what writings and video, YouTubes, and so on were out there from this fellow what his motives may have been, if he was a political actor. It was certainly a political act, in the sense that he killed a politician or tried to murder a politician.
And, you know, in looking through that material, really, the conclusion, it seems to me, is, yes, this person was clearly mentally ill, at least as clearly as can be said by a nonprofessional.
But, at the same time, as you look through his material, you glean a pretty consistent threat. It's all about the individual against a tyrannical, overbearing, oppressive government. He has some very bizarre theories, people being controlled by English grammar and so on --
MATTHEWS: Yes.
POTOK: -- that do in fact originate among conspiracy theorists of the far right.
But I just think, overall, sure, this is not a consistent political thinker. He doesn't have some great fully-formed ideology. He's not a right-wing ideologue. He's not connected, I don't think, to any groups.
And yet, I think, clearly, as the sheriff said as well, he absorbed the atmospherics around him. So, he may not have a coherent political philosophy, but he definitely got into his head that the government was evil and of course he didn't seem to think of the government as real human beings.
MATTHEWS: Well, you're an expert. I trust your judgment on this, but it seems to me that the left, the far left, can be as vulnerable to conspiracy theories as the far right.
I have heard some really wacky theories about what happened in Dallas back in '63, which involved so many layers of conspiracy, the Irish mafia, Kennedy's best friends, the sheriffs, the Dallas Police Department, the CIA, the FBI. Everybody was in on it. Johnson, Nixon were all in on killing him, if you listen to Oliver Stone.
So, it seems to me the left is equally vulnerable, aren't they, to these wildly—I think it's brain soup. I think some people walk into a room and think everybody's been plotting against them when they walk in the room. They believe that everybody's in cahoots against them. Isn't that just brain soup, left or right?
POTOK: Yes, I think there's something to that.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
POTOK: Well, I think there's something to that.
I mean, I remember the '60s and the early '70s, you know, and the feeling that—look, there undoubtedly were some real conspiracies of various kinds, but the feeling that sort of the establishment was all in a massive conspiracy.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
POTOK: On the other hand, of course, I would say that, overall, I that conspiracy theorizing—well, first of all, is very particularly American.
We for some reason as a nation are really afflicted with this kind of thinking. And certainly, over the last 20, 30 years, I think it's fair to say that most of—
MATTHEWS: So, you're with Richard Hofstadter. You think we're—
MATTHEWS: Do you think we're paranoid as a people, as Richard Hofstadter—the paranoid theory of American history, that kind of thing? You're into that?
POTOK: Well, I think there's a lot of truth to it.
You look at the European radical right or radical left for that matter and the thinking by and large is not the same. Now, of course, Nazi Germany, it was all about conspiracies by Jews, imaginary conspiracies.
But, by and large, they're not into conspiracy theories nearly on the same level. And they're also not into kind of religious explanations of the world. It's a much more sort of secular scene, I would say.
MATTHEWS: Yes. I think Hitler had a theory about the Jews, which was so outrageous beyond belief.
Anyway, thank you, Mark Potok. Thanks for coming on.
Up next: The Tucson gunman was allowed to own a semiautomatic handgun, despite his troubled past. Apparently, it wasn't so hard for him to get that purchase. And the oversized ammunition clip he used was once banned under federal law, under the assault weapons ban. It's now legal again. That bill was allowed to expire because of action by the gun rights people.
So why don't we have reasonable gun control laws in this country? Why have both sides caved into the wishes of, well, the people who support the Second Amendment all the way?
This is a special edition of HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Well, we're back.
And as we reported last night, I can't believe this news in the wake of Saturday's shooting out in Tucson. At least two members of the United States Congress say they're going to carry guns now to future events with their constituents. Boy, that's a nice way to receive people.
Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz and North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler both hold conceal-and-carry permits, so they're going to use them. Is this the right way for members to meet constituents: armed?
Joining me right now are two Democratic members of the House, Missouri's Emanuel Cleaver, who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Virginia's Jim Moran.
Gentlemen, I think this is an extraordinary idea. I have also heard about the Peter King idea, which is basically to stop people from bringing weapons to political meetings by basically a restraining thing, like you have around schoolyards.
Which do you like, Congressman Cleaver, the idea of keeping guns away from political meetings or bringing one yourself to match the firepower of your potential enemies?
REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER (D), MISSOURI: Well, knowing how members of Congress misuse their tongues, I can imagine what would happen if they had guns.
REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: Nice one, Emanuel.
CLEAVER: Well, hey.
I don't think that's the smart thing to do. I think Congressman King has the right idea. There is no excuse, absolutely no excuse, for anyone to attend a political gathering with a gun. That sends a bad signal, and it could create some bad, bad things if things somehow got out of control.
MATTHEWS: You know, Congressman Moran, I just wonder about that. It seems to me you can be for the Second Amendment, you can be completely for the right of hunters and self-protection, even in the extreme case against your own government, if that's what you believe. It's in the Constitution.
But why do you—look at this. We have these guys. This guy's walking around. At presidential events, they show up with guns. How's the Secret Service going to keep track of all the guns? How do they know which nut is in the room or which the bad guys are? With all these guys walking around with guns, all they have to do is draw it. I'm not anti-gun per se, but guns at political meetings, I don't get the idea.
MORAN: It's insane.
MATTHEWS: Why not wear uniforms, go all the way?
MORAN: Chris, I agree with you. It's insane.
Since Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, more than a million Americans in the United States have been killed by guns. Now, of course, that does include suicides and some accidental deaths and so on, but we live in a violent culture that no other industrial, civilized society experiences -- 150,000 gun deaths just in the last decade.
And, in fact, the Supreme Court, even though I disagree with the ruling, they said that you can have conditions on the sale and the commercial transactions of guns. And, certainly, what we at least ought to do is to reinstate the assault weapon ban.
Why somebody needs a gun with 30 rounds, I mean, it has nothing to do with hunting. It has nothing to do with self-defense.
MATTHEWS: Well, you know the argument.
MATTHEWS: Congressman, you know the argument. It's the slippery slope argument. You know the argument. If you start taking away the right to own these magazines with all the bullets in them, if you take away the rights to own a semiautomatic, you will take away the right to own a shotgun. That's the argument.
MORAN: It is about individual freedom.
But shouldn't people have the freedom to live? Shouldn't that little girl have had the freedom to go to a discussion with her congresswoman without getting killed?
This is crazy. And the NRA, I do think, bears responsibility, but it's more than that. It's largely the Congress, who won't stand up to the gun lobby.
MATTHEWS: Let's talk about the mix of vitriol. You were in that famous scene, or infamous scene, Congressman Cleaver. I don't know you, sir, but I have seen you walk past that line of people.
And I don't whether you call it spitting, or we used to call it, "Mad" magazine, ball (INAUDIBLE), but this guy spat all over you, basically. And this kind of anger coming from a man's face right to you, there you are, a gentleman member of Congress, and you get this kind of abuse.
And there you are wiping your face off. Imagine if that guy's got a gun on him and he's got more attitude coming at you.
CLEAVER: Well, what has happened in Congress and around the nation for that matter is that we have forgotten how to have a civil discourse.
Right now, there is no way we can, in a very sane manner, have a discussion about guns, for example, because we have not established the rules for conduct. We can't have a debate now, because all debates seem to be fact-free.
And if there are no rules, unwritten and unspoken rules, that would require the least amount of common decency, we can't resolve any problems. And we are—we have an avalanche of problems falling in on us. And, right now, ideology trumps problem-solving.
MATTHEWS: Well said.
And if you're really crazy politically, you can always find some blogger or a group of bloggers who will agree with you and support your craziest ideas, and you can enjoy their company.
MORAN: Absolutely. I wish we had more people like Emanuel Cleaver in public service, frankly, Chris.
But I should mention this legislation by Peter King. I was on a conference call with Mayor Bloomberg's office this morning. And it seemed like a good idea at first. I don't—
MATTHEWS: Is it constitutional?
MORAN: Well, I'm not going to support it.
MORAN: In the first place, whether it's constitutional or not, it implies that we're far more concerned about ourselves than our constituents.
MATTHEWS: Yes, I know.
MORAN: When we talk about the fact that there were a million people killed since Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, what about those people? They should be our first consideration, not our own protection. So, I don't think we ought to support --
MATTHEWS: Well, what about people riding the subway every night on their night shift?
MORAN: Well, I mean, that's why Carolyn McCarthy is involved in this issue. Her husband was mowed down, along with a lot of other people, from an assault weapon. We should at least reinstate the assault weapon—
MATTHEWS: And I don't think it's about ideology. I think you can be far-right or far-left and still respect the point of view of the other person on the other end as an American who totally disagrees with you. It doesn't mean he's evil.
This fundamental problem we have today is a person disagrees with you, they're evil. That is childish. It's high school. And it's perpetrated too much on the airwaves, that mentality. And it's idiotic.
Thank you, Jim Moran.
And, thank you, Congressman Cleaver.
Thank you both, gentlemen, for joining us.
Up next: We have heard Sheriff Dupnik and others criticize the kind
of talk we hear on radio. We're going to talk to some people on the radio
right now, talk show hosts who are listening to people out there right now
what they're saying, plus what they're hearing from listeners, not just the talk jocks.
You're watching a special edition of HARDBALL on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
What's been the role of talk radio and fueling the heated language? Also, what are people saying out there? What do people think about this tragedy last week?
I want to go to the radio jocks and really, the experts and our friends: Michael Smerconish is syndicated radio talk show host. He's on here a lot as my sub and I love to have him. He's an MSNBC contributor, of course. And E. Steven Collins, host of radio talk show, "Phillies Speaks."
Gentlemen, thank you, both, for coming on.
First, Michael, what are people saying out there? You've got a lot of hours with people. What are they saying about this tragedy and its meaning politically?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Well, what I'm hearing mostly from callers and I've talked about it for six hours already this week is that they don't see a causal connection, a direct causal connection between as I put it, the hate-riolic comments and shooting on Saturday in Arizona. However, they view this as an importunity to have a conversation about the terrible level of discourse in the nation, something that's been a mainstay on my program for a number of years because I think it's appalling. It's been getting worse.
And although I'm not one to say that gun belongs in the hand of a particular talk show host because they caused it, I am here to say that I hope it's an opportunity for us to reflect because things are way out of hand. I've been doing this for 15 years, Chris, and it has never been at the fever pitch that I have found it since this president came into office.
MATTHEWS: E. Steven, I have to tell you, though, I'll mention a couple of names without getting into too many fights. People like Mark Levine, Michael Savage for example, who every time you listen to them are furious—furious at the left. With anger that's just builds and builds in their voice and by the time they go to commercial, they're just in some rage with ugly talk, ugly sounding talk.
And it never changes. It never modulated. They must have an audience. I looked at the numbers today. They have big audiences.
I guess that's the question: why? And is there going to stop or it keeps working?
E. STEVEN COLLINS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The sheriff is Tucson was absolutely right, Chris. It does impact people who may have a mental problem or may not. And they just have an anger toward government, but a little push to the right and they are there.
And that little girl who went down to meet the congressperson who lost her life for absolutely nothing is a witness to what we've seen over and over again, this kind of violence. Idea that Sarah Palin, who was a governor of a state would put crosshairs over congressional districts and then a week or so later, a congressperson is almost fatally shot and a federal judge is killed and other bystanders and others who came out to meet their congressperson were shot the way they were, there is a direct relationship.
This person, I get he's mentally ill. But how do we know that what he heard on his radio, saw on his Web site, did not impact him to make that decision?
MATTHEWS: I guess the question to you, Michael, you and I are both within the 40-yard line. So, I don't think we operate too far down field in either direction. I speak for both of us. I think we're somewhere near center-left, center-right, depending on the issue.
There are some people that work at extremes. They work at the 5-yard line from either the left to the right. And they do see the other end after the field as evil, as awful. Not just disagreeable but evil. And they use that language when they talk about the other side.
Isn't that part of the problem? And my question is: doesn't that give them moral license to people who have crazy mind to start with?
SMERCONISH: Short answer is yes. You mentioned earlier in the program that you find it objectionable when everything is cast as the government. The government is doing this, that, or the other thing.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
SMERCONISH: My pet peeve is, the way that this is all cast as a revolution. I mean, to listen to some of this talk, Chris, you would swear we're about to overthrow King George III. And what I object to—
MATTHEWS: I know. We didn't elect King George. We didn't elect King George. I keep reminding people of that. You got what you voted for, you know?
It's not like they're from mars. These people are from London. You keep putting them in office. You want to stop re-electing the same old guy every year in Congress, or woman if you want change, you know? It's self-directed, most of this. But I think you're right—
SMERCONISH: Well, what I see happening is I see that revolutionary script. Then eliciting a response from the audience, and when I say this, I know you'll remember it. I remember Congressman Mike Castle being at a town hall meeting in Delaware when this thing was reaching its fever pitch and a woman stands up and she is frothing at the mouth and she is screaming, "I want my country back." Well, she wants his country back from the Muslim, Kenyan-born president.
SMERCONISH: And the insanity of all of this—
MATTHEWS: I know. Well, she—
SMERCONISH: -- the insanity of this is that the audience, and I had this conversation with Governor Castle (ph), the audience was right there with her and I looked at that video, I was frightened. I said, these are people who are on the edge, and if somebody pushes them over, God help us all.
MATTHEWS: Hey, Steven, thank you. Wish we had a lot more time. We can do an hour on this.
Michael, as always, sir.
Up next: the intern credited with saving—let's get some good news tonight—saving Congresswoman Giffords' life. He's going to join us when we return on this special edition of HARDBALL. There he is.
MATTHEWS: Well, here's some good news concerning the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Her doctors have issued their most optimistic prognosis so far. Trauma surgeon Peter Rhee told a British TV station that she is, quote, "100 percent likely to survive." Well, it would still be days if not weeks before doctors learn the extent of the congresswoman's injuries and, of course, the potential for a total or partial recovery.
We'll be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
Twenty-year-old political intern Daniel Hernandez heroically rushed to Congresswoman Giffords' side after the shooting this weekend and administered first aid. Saturday was his fifth day on the job.
Mr. Hernandez joins us now from the University Medical Center in Tucson. He's a student, by the way, at the University of Arizona.
Well, Daniel, I can't say enough about you, young man. And I guess what we all want to know was what happened. And if you could give us a fresh description of what it was like to be there the role you played, what you saw. Go ahead.
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, REP. GIFFORDS' INTERN: Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me.
I was in my role as an intern helping to staff this event called Congress in Your Corner, where the congresswoman would get a chance to speak one-on-one with her constituents. I was in charge of signing people in and making sure we could control the traffic so that everyone had the same opportunity to speak with the congresswoman.
Ten minutes into the beginning of Congress on Your Corner, shots were fired. I may have heard someone yell "gun," and my first instinct was to head where the congresswoman would be, because where I was at the back of the line, I was 30 to 40 feet away, and I couldn't see what was going on.
MATTHEWS: When you went up to the congresswoman, she had had just been shot in the head. What did you do to treat her, with first aid?
HERNANDEZ: When I got to where the congresswoman was, there was a few other people on the ground and using basic triage, I was trying to see who still had a pulse, who was still breathing. So, I didn't see the congresswoman first. After about two or three people, however, I saw the congresswoman had, indeed, been hit, and I started to apply pressure to her wound.
But before I did that, I lifted her up because in the position she was in, she was vulnerable to asphyxiation just because she could have choked on her own blood from the wound. So, I propped her had up against my chest and started applying pressure to her wound to prevent blood loss.
MATTHEWS: Your training, what was the extent of your training to be able to know what to do?
HERNANDEZ: The most basic you can get really. In high school, I did a training program as a certified nursing assistant, as a phlebotomist. So, I was able to get just the most basic first aid and triage.
MATTHEWS: Tell me about your new boss.
HERNANDEZ: Actually, I have known Gabby for some time. I started in 2008 on her congressional campaign as an intern. So, she wasn't my new boss, she's an old friend. She is someone who I have known for, like I said, years.
In 2010, I had the opportunity to work with her again. This time, I was working as a campaign manager for a local legislative district representative and his district is within her congressional district. So, when she retained her seat, I was very excited to apply for an internship with her office. So, she was just—she is the—
MATTHEWS: Tell me about the—tell me about the political environment in that district. I know the border issues are very hot, immigration, illegal immigration. Undocumented workers, that's a hot issue. But is that something that is an obsession with the people, or it's just come up once in a while with certain people?
HERNANDEZ: Being a border district, it obviously has a lot of concern about national security as well as border security. But I wouldn't be able to speak too much about the concerns of the people in the district other than what I've seen—and I've seen, especially during elections, a lot of concerns about border security.
MATTHEWS: How would you describe Congresswoman Giffords? Is she a moderate Democratic, centrist Democrat, liberal? What would you call her?
HERNANDEZ: I definitely call hear moderate. She's really true to her district. She is—has been a great representative and will continue to be one, and she's just an amazing human being.
MATTHEWS: Well, you must be, too. And I guess—I can only say I'm so admiring of what you were able to do in those difficult circumstances. You showed a lot of grace under pressure there.
Thank you so much for being on the show tonight on HARDBALL, Daniel Hernandez.
HERNANDEZ: Thank you, Chris.
MATTHEWS: And good luck with your career and life.
When we return, "Let Me Finish" with a reminder of America's greatness. We need some good news tonight. We've got a reminder of some very great news.
You're watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: "Let Me Finish" tonight with an American story that reminds us, a good time to do so, what a great country we are, what good people we have and have had showing their bravery to keep us safe.
Richard Winters, remember that name, never forget it if you can—
Richard Winters. He was the commanding officer of Easy Company, the unit of the American Army, with grit, great courage and unmatched patriotism fought its way all the way from the beaches of Normandy in June 1944, all the way to Hitler's mountain hideaway in May of 1945. Dropped behind enemy lines prior to the landings on Utah Beach, Winters led his unit to fight the Battle of the Bulge and on through Germany itself.
One of his sergeants remembers him under enemy fire. He was the first one out there yelling, "Follow me." He got shot in the leg and still kept going. At one point, with just 35 men, one of his platoons routed two German companies of 300 men.
Richard Winters died this month at age 92. He lived without fanfare with his family in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Having won so many decorations for his actions, he played down his personal role in the war. "The cohesion that existed in the company was hardly a result of my leadership," he said. "The company belonged to the men. The officers were merely the caretakers."
It was Captain Winters' unit that won fame as the "Band of Brothers," as well they should have. This story shall the good man teach his son. From this day to the ending of the world, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
That's HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us. Right now, it's time for "THE ED SHOW" with Ed Schultz.
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