text:
Talofa Survivor fans! That means "hello" in Samoan. A long time ago some Italian dude named Botticelli created a masterpiece called The Birth Of Venus. It depicted the beautiful goddess Venus emerging from the ocean surrounded by gods blowing her towards the seashore. Last night in Samoa a similar image appeared. A delicious morsel of mulletted goodness arrived on the shores and declared herself to be "Shambo". She didn't arrive on a half shell like Venus did, but she did arrive in a canoe and that's good enough for me. Let's recap last night, shall we?
The opening sequence of Survivor Samoa was none other than stunning. The cinematography manages to outdo itself every season. Georgia O'Keefe would have loved that opening shot of the waterfall. Am I the only one who thought it looked like a giant vagina? Dimples Probst, the best reality show host on the planet, delivers my favorite opening lines of all time, "39 days, 20 people, 1 survivor!" And then we see that magnificent helicopter shot that slowly pulls away and then goes bam, bam, bam to a teeny tiny Probsty in the distance. I fucking love that shot. Every season it gets me. Every season I get my gorgeous opening, my favorite lines, my helicopter shot, and my theme song that I dance wildly to every year. The dance has morphed over the years into a Latin/Afro/Celtic sort of number where I fling my head back and forth to the, "Hay day doh dee doh dee doh's". Now tell me why I was furious last night. Yep. I didn't get my dance time. Where in the hell was my theme song bitches? I got up to dance and was left standing there like a moron. I kicked my leprechaun and demanded he play me a tune on his bagpipes. That shit better be there next week. I want my "Hay day doh dee doh dee doh's."
OK so the new castaways arrive on shore and they're already divided into their tribes, Galu and Foa Foa. Dimples tells them they've got to pick a leader right quick and they come up with Russell S. for Galu and Mick for Foa Foa. Mick? Seriously? Dude is a tool. Oh how heavenly was it when Shannon basically cried out, "I'm Shambo dammit!" when Dimples asked her name. I instantly poured my mimosa down my chest and let Mr. O'Shaugnessy lick it off. Whiny hillbilly Ben bitches about how no one wrote his name down and I started throwing darts at my tv. Maybe the skunky stripe in his hair had something to do with the fact that no one wanted him as a leader. My instincts about him were so right on. He could fall into a Samoan volcano and I wouldn't bat an eyelash.
The tribe leaders are immediately instructed to pick the best swimmer, the strongest, the most agile, and the smartest. Mick, in some convoluted "I'm not a racist, but I play one on TV" logic, picks African god Jaison as the best swimmer. He claims he's going against stereotypes, but not 2 seconds later he picks Asian Liz as the smartest. Owww... damn that Hypocradar can get loud sometimes. Anyhow, Galu has Jaison, Russell H., Marisa, and Liz competing. Foa Foa has John, Eric, Yasmin, and Shambo. They have to paddle their little hearts out and retrieve a key. Then they have to carry some ginormous log bundles to a mat, perform a balance beam routine, do a perfect double back, stick it, unlock the puzzle, and piece together some kind of tower with antlers. A hell of an opening challenge if you ask me.
Dimples says, "Survivors ready? Go!" and they're off. Michael Phelps, I mean Jaison, wins the 200 meter butterfly and passes off to Russell H. who carries his first bundle like it's a box of feathers. Meanwhile Rocket Boy John is crawling exhausted on the shore struggling to breathe and pretty much having a heart attack. He tries to locate Erik for the key hand-off, but his vision must have been fading or something. Erik, furious that Rocket Boy basically did the doggie paddle the whole time, snatches the key and goes to work on his bundles and, let me tell you, the boy is stronger than he looks. He grunts the first bundle to the mat and then goes back to retrieve his second one. Both Russell H. and Erik are basically giving themselves hernias trying to lug their second bundles to the finish. I totally think those second logs were made of iron weights by the way. Russell finishes first and Marisa mounts the beam. She sticks the dismount and passes off to Liz who gets to work on the puzzle. Erik finally drags his dead bodies to the mat and Yasmin attacks her beam. She's quick and nimble and passes off to the Lady Of The Mullet. Shambo is way behind, but her mullet is infused with a magical power and she actually catches up to Liz. In a nail biter of an ending Liz wins by a matter of seconds and the Foa Foa tribe is rewarded with flint. All that for a piece of rock? LOL
After the competition Bitch Boy Erik comments on John, "Pretty boy maybe couldn't swim, but get your ass off the mat! Unbelievable. He shouldn't be here." As much as I loathe STD Erik, he's right on the money about Rocket Boy. In the meantime, Marisa is over at Foa Foa crediting Mick with the win because he made such stellar picks. OK I'll give him that. His team did totally kick ass. Probstey gives the tribes their maps, tell them to fuck off, and goes back to his tent to be entertained by a local Samoan masseuse. Oh come on... you know that's how it went down.
Then we get the most glorious gift from heaven. It's as if precious little fairies with pink wings delivered Russell H. to me on a cloud of cotton candy. Russell H., whom I'll now refer to as Lucifer, is a short, fat, misogynist that I can't help but want to bake cookies for. Dude even has the most evil villain eyebrows you've ever seen. I heart him and everything he stands for. Lucifer has a plan and his plan is to make the rest of his tribe as miserable as possible. He's so Keyser Soze it's unreal. He's literally going to be the devil while all the while convincing everyone that the devil doesn't exist. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a fucking great villain. How fabulous would he have been in the Big Brother house? I have to fan myself just thinking about it. His deception is the kind of deception I dream about. He's clever, rude, manipulative, duplicitous, and oh so evil. The dude is already a millionaire. He's got nothing to lose and I just know he's going to turn Foa Foa into a living hell.
Lucifer wastes no time forming, what he calls, the Dumb Ass Girl Alliance. Yes, it's rude and wretched and completely misogynist, but for the sake of the game I'm going to ignore all that. Mick is busy at the tribe asking everyone what their skills are (I was totally waiting for someone to say "Numchuck skills" a la Napolean Dynamite) and Lucifer informs us, "I didn't come here to work. I came here to play." and I immediately wonder if he'd prefer Oatmeal Raisin to Chocolate Chip. Lucifer goes on to tell us that his strategy is to make secret alliances with every single one of the "dumb girls". OK I'll admit I poked Mr. O'Shaugnessy in the eye for that one, but then I went right back to being captivated. Lucifer approaches Ashley, Natalie and Marisa and announces, "I got an alliance with the dumb short haired blonde, the dumb longer haired blonde, and the dumb dark haired one." Poetry. Pure poetry, my friends. He approaches Betsy last and lovingly refers to her as the "the old lady". He knows she's smarter than the other girls so he makes a mental note to keep an eye on her.
I take a break from making a pine cone wreath in Lucifer's honor and head on over to Galu to check out what's going on there. Russell S., let's call him "Dreads", is such a nice guy and you can tell that he really wants everyone to get along. The only problem is he kind of needs to put his foot down with the uber Tools he has on his tribe. John, Dave, and Ben are trying to out douche each other in a testosterone competition while Dreads simply wants to build a damn shelter. Shambo, the love of my life, is hanging back picking her teeth with tree bark (no, not really, but it totally would have fit the scene) thinking they're all dumb and need to make a fucking decision already. Rocket Boy is going on and on about them being over budget back at the construction office and I stabbed myself in between my toes with a letter opener. What the hell is he talking about? All he wants to do is talk and plan and make financial statements. All I can do is be happy in the knowledge that his time in Samoa will most likely be limited. Actually, Galu should be happy that their biggest problem is building a shelter. They should be braiding each other's hair and making sock puppets over the fact that Lucifer isn't anywhere near their tribe.
Back in hell (Foa Foa), Lucifer is telling everyone a lovely little bedtime story. He tells everyone he was a fireman in Hurricane Katrina and his precious german shepard drowned by the water rushing into his house. He was forced to live on his roof for 2 days while mourning his dead dog, the best friend he ever had. *stands and applauds* Lucifer does Johnny Fairplay better than Johnny Fairplay ever did. The whole story is a bedazzled gift of lies and everyone in the tribe falls for it and wipes away their tears. Lucifer sits there fondling his tail and thinking of ways to torture to the young innocent members of his tribe. He decided to pour out ALL the water from their canteens. He says, "I'm planning on weeding out the weak right off the bat. I plan on making it as miserable as I can for everybody." Ok so water is a big deal on Survivor. It's a whole long process to boil it, sterilize it, bottle it, etc. It's not like they have access to a craft services table or anything. Lucifer dumps the life saving nectar out while twirling the edges of his evil moustache and giggling like a little girl. He's not done yet bitches. He takes it to a whole new level when he burns Jaison's socks in the fire. I can literally begin to see the horns begin to grow out of Lucifer's head at this point and I start to clap and have Mr. O'Shaugnessy tickle my no-no. It's at this moment where Twitter begins to go nuts hating Lucifer. These people wouldn't know a good character if it sat on their face. Lucifer is wildly entertaining! I really hope he sticks around for a while and that someone like Kelly or Shambo manages to get him voted off. It all needs to end in a woman kicking his ass.
The next day Foa Foa arises to find their water gone and they all begin to get snippy with each other. It's all going to Lucifer's evil plan and he just sits back and sharpens his pitchfork. Then we get our Immunity Challenge and Dreads is all happy and delighted to be there. He compliments his tribe on how lovely and capable they are and Mick immediately shoots him down saying, "I've never read that book... Things Losers Say." Oh it's on bitches! Dreads is unthrilled and he just got his mojo delivered. He's ready to whoop some ass and make Foa Foa eat their words (and probably their young). The tribes have to carry 3 sections of rope over ramps that consecutively get higher. They have to tie the rope to a heavy crate and then pull the crate in and make a puzzle with the pieces inside. The winning tribe gets the Immunity Idol.
"Survivors ready? Go!" And they're off... Galu literally sails over the first ramp with no hesitation. Yasmin and Dreads have problems with the second ramp. On the third ramp they make a human ladder which is actually quite ingenious and they keep a steady lead. Over at Foa Foa, the dehydrated sockless bunch struggle over every ramp. Eventually, they copy Galu's Human Ladder strategy and they begin to catch up. Both tribes pull their crates in like crazy and then the puzzle solvers go to work. It's frighteningly close with both teams struggling to get their puzzles started. Galu catches a break in the puzzle (thanks to Shambo Warrior Princess) and... "Galu wins immunity!" They cheer and hug and chant, "GALU, GALU, GALU IS ON FIRE!" It's a catchy little tune I kept humming all night.
Foa Foa cry and whimper and sulk back to their hell on earth. Ashley begins to worry about who'll go home. She's concerned it could be her yet she doesn't want to approach anyone or say anything. While she's bitching and not cutting any deals, Mike and Mick are plotting to send her ass home. Now I know Ashley is Chelsia Hart's (BB10) friend and all, but I don't like her one bit. I didn't like her in her cast video and I don't like her now. By the time she gets to Tribal Council, I'll full on hate the bitch.
Lucifer begins to scheme and talk to everyone which makes Marisa nervous. She approaches Lucifer and tell him she's wary of his intentions because she always sees him talking to other tribe members. Oh Marisa... you've done it now. Don't you know never to question the Lord Of The Underworld? He'll seek revenge, kill your family, and skewer your puppies. And that's precisely what Lucifer did. He runs to Jaison, Betsy, and Mike and throws Marisa under the bus saying she threatened him. He tells us, "My tribe will believe anything I tell them at any point because they're just stupid. Mick's the leader, but I'm the one in charge." Betsy runs to Natalie and says, "I don't trust Russ. I just don't." Natalie asks her why and Betsy replies, "Woman's intuition." Bless your heart Betsy! I want you to take that woman's intuition and join up with Shambo and Kelly at the Merge and use it to send Lucifer home.
Foa Foa heads to Tribal Council and Dimples says, "In this game fire represents your life." He's so dramatic I love it. Probsty asks Ashley how she's feeling and she says, "It makes me sad. It is what it is." Oh shut up you idiot. There is no phrase on earth I hate more than, "It is what it is." If you are ever in my presence, do yourselves a favor and NEVER EVER EVER say that around me or you'll know what it's like to have hot poker thrust into your spleen. Probst asks Lucifer why he just doesn't get rid of Ashley since this is all basically a trip to the mall for her. Lucifer has bigger fish to fry - namely Marisa. She crossed him and now she must suffer. Betsy disagrees and says Ashley is indeed the weakest. To which ASSley says, "I find it entertaining that she finds me the weakest link. Cardio wise... I'm fit." This isn't a step class at Crunch Gym you idiot. Marisa chimes in and says there are different types of weakness. Ben, sick of being ignored and not getting air time, snaps at Marisa and mocks her. It gets a little ugly with Lucifer and Ben ganging up on Marisa so Probst shuts them all up and makes them vote.
By a vote of 6-3, the first person voted out of Survivor Samoa is Marisa. The tribe has spoken. Dammit! I had high hopes for Marisa and would have really liked her and her cute little hairdo to stick around. Lucifer has claimed one life and I fear for what he'll do next.
Now I open the floor to all you good people. Who are you liking? Who are you hating? Is Russell H. tickling your no-no or making you go to church and pray for his soul? Newcomers, did you enjoy your first taste of Survivor Samoa and, more importantly, will you be sending me a fruit basket as a result?
Have a great weekend everyone and don't do anything I wouldn't do!


text:
Braided Placemat
Free Shipping & Returns on All U.S. Orders. See Details
All the beauty of natural straw--with none of its cleaning hassle. Deborah Rhodes' hand-sewn nylon Braided Placemat adds a rich pop of color to any dinnerware decor. Stain resistant and easy to wipe clean. Perfect for indoor or outdoor use.
Need Help? Have Questions? Contact Us.
Please call 1.888.222.7639 to speak with a Customer Service Representative.
We're here to help you:
Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 9 PM (ET)
Saturday - Sunday, 10:30 AM - 7 PM (ET)
If you prefer email, we can be reached anytime at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Free Shipping & Returns on All U.S. Orders. See Details

subset: commoncrawl


text:
All too often you hear 'weakness is an opportunity' said Cramer. Of course, that's not always the case. How about now?
Back in the days when Cramer worked on the trading desk, he and his colleagues often heard analysts pound the table that every pullback was a buying opportunity.
But they knew that wasn't the case. They would sometimes say "here comes the BO!" In other words, in that circumstance the buying opportunity stunk.
There are plenty ofinvestors in the market who are bearish and currently subscribe to the BO philosophy. "There are many who want to fight this tape," Cramer explained. "They think that stocks are overvalued because they keep getting revised upward on little news."


text:
Ban Chiang ware
(Thailand – )
Pedestal bowl with painted decoration
- Other titles:
- Large pot
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Used as grave goods, Ban Chiang ceramics were discovered in burials along with bronze and iron artefacts and personal adornments such as glass beads. Through what now appears to have been erroneous dating methods, the Ban Chiang bronzes and ceramics were dated to 3600 BCE. This would have meant that bronze technology, and hence civilization, began in Thailand and not in Western Asia as previously thought. Widely publicised in 'Time' magazine in 1976, the pots gained instant fame as proof of the earliest civilization in the world. However, subsequent testing has given an average date of the 2nd century BCE. Similar dates have been given to stylistically related artefacts found at Cambodian and Vietnamese (Dong Son) sites, re-iterating the inter-connectedness of early settlements in mainland Southeast Asia. The black wares are an exception: thermoluminescence testing indicates they are much older, dating to around 1500 BCE.
'Ban Chiang ware', The Asian Collections, AGNSW, 2003, pg.323.
- Place of origin
Udon Thani Province,
North East Thailand,
- Year
- circa 0090
- Media
- Ceramic
- Medium
- earthenware with red painted decoration
- Dimensions
- 28.5 x 19.8 cm
- Credit
- Gift of Dr Peter Elliott 1980
- Accession number
- 42.1980


text:
The Eurozone Crisis: Overview and Issues for Congress
Description: The Eurozone's economic crisis threatens economic stability in Europe and beyond. Four specific economic challenges faced are high debt levels and public deficits, weaknesses in the European banking system, recession and high unemployment in some Eurozone countries, and persistent trade imbalances. Three issues for Congress regarding these challenges are how this situation will impact the US economy, IMG involvement, and how the US and Europe will cooperate to solve these issues.
Date: February 29, 2012
Creator: Nelson, Rebecca M.; Belkin, Paul; Mix, Derek E. & Weiss, Martin A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report


text:
Marilyn_R on Family Tree Circles
sort: Date Alphabetical
view: full | list
view: full | list
Journals and Posts
John Davis b. 1721, Middlesex, Va;
Looking for info on John Davis, b. 1721, Middlesex Co. Va; son of William Davis and Sarah Pace.
Researching descendents of Sir Thomas Davis 1525 est
Researching descendents of Sir Thomas Davis 1525 est. England
- Displaying 1-2 of 2 Journals
- 1
- of1


text:
They made it! It flies! IT FLIES! After countless tests, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is finally flying. As in, taking off, going around a few times, and then landing without any problem. Here's the first video. And another one here:
It has been long way since we saw it complete for the first time but, after all the delays, the first commercial airliner fully made of composite materials is now a reality. [Gizmodo Dreamliner Coverage]


text:
India Inc. Doesn't Care About Women
On the final day of the World Economic Forum on India, at a session entitled "Changing Mindsets: India's Missing Women," there weren't many minds present.
Organizers had set aside the main hall of the forum for the event, with capacity to seat nearly a thousand people. In the event, barely a tenth of that number showed up.
Some panelists didn't let the poor turnout go unremarked. "GDP is everyone's god right now," said Mallika Sarabhai, director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. "The fact that there are so few leaders here from corporate India, tells you how little they care."
Ms. Sarabhai added that in recent days several politicians and officials have made sexist remarks, that sum up the attitude to women in India.
She pointed to examples, including a comment this month by a leader of the ruling Congress party in Haryana state that 90% of rapes involve consensual sex
Krishna Tirath, India's federal minister for women and child development, who is a female Congress politician, responded by saying that it was "very sad" if such comments have come from her party colleagues. Ms. Sarabhai and the moderator, Rajat Nag, managing director-general of the Asian Development Bank, jumped in to say that they had indeed.
Some business attendees raised other issues. One head of an information technology company said he couldn't recruit adequate numbers of women, either because they were having babies or not educated enough.
Kavita Ramdas, head of the Ford Foundation in India, who was in the audience, said this comment was sexist and told the panel to call out such views.
Some recent statistics also show them to be wrong.
India badly lags China in the labor participation rate of women, according to surveys released Nov. 2 by the Gallup organization. A quarter of Indian women are employed or seeking employment, versus 70% of Chinese women, the surveys showed, and Chinese women are about twice as likely to work full time. One in six college-educated Indian women works full time.
Talk about India's missing women.
You can follow India Real Time on Twitter @indiarealtime.


text:
Return to Transcripts main page
Interview With Robert Gibbs; Interview With Kitty Kelley
Aired April 18, 2010 - 11:00 ET
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice-over): Behind the podium. From driving the administration's message to doing battle in the briefing room, Robert Gibbs is the president's point man. Why does his boss keep ripping cable chatter and Rush and Sean and Glenn? Our conversation at the White House. In search of Oprah. Kitty Kelley takes on the talk show queen and says much of the media is afraid to challenge her. Is the author's new and gossipy biography fair? Second act. Conan O'Brien going from "The Tonight Show" to basic cable? Is that a smart move? Plus, charging for tweets. Will corporate advertising ruin Twitter? (END VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: A major chunk of Washington journalism is filled in through the prism of the White House, which is why you see so many reporters standing right here on the north lawn. And a good bit of that coverage involves the man whose job it is to deal with the media. As anyone who's ever watched Robert Gibbs in the briefing room well knows, that can get pretty contentious. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't expect to have this package within the party about the public option? ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Again, contrived almost entirely by you guys. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all due respect -- and I sympathize with you trying to explain the vice president's comments, but that's not even remotely close to what he said. He was asked about if a member of his family -- GIBBS: I understand what he said, and I'm telling you what he meant to say, which was that -- . (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Gibbs is the man who speaks for President Obama, a longtime adviser who must keep up with what his boss derides as the speeded up and superficial media culture. I sat down with him in the stately Old Executive Office Building right across the alley from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: Robert Gibbs, Welcome. GIBBS: How are you? KURTZ: Excellent. What do you make of all the media speculation about who the president will pick for the Supreme Court? You've got your frontrunner, Elena Kagan. You've got your short list, your medium list. What do you think? GIBBS: Right. Well, look. I think there is a space between the announcement of that retirement until the introduction of the president's pick that has to be filled. And it will take up a lot of column mentions and a lot of air time between now and then. KURTZ: You float some trial balloons here at the White House. That's been known to happen. GIBBS: We have certainly given people a sense of the size of a perspective list. I think this president -- obviously, we have names that were not picked that were not picked that the president looked at for the opening a year ago. (CROSSTALK) GIBBS: But I've described this accurately as the president looking at a number of nominees. Not just ones that were looked at last time, but we're going to give him a lot of choices from which to make a good pick. KURTZ: Apparently so are we. President Obama regularly takes jabs at the news business. He seems to enjoy tweaking, especially those of us in cable news. Here he is with Matt Lauer. GIBBS: I haven't noticed that at all. KURTZ: Here he is with Matt Lauer. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It gets spun up partly because of the way the media covers politics these days, in 24/7 news cycle, in the cable chatter and the talk radio, and the Internet and the blogs, all of which tend to try to feed the most extreme sides of any issue. (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Now, this amuses me, because you guys play the game. You put people out on the shows. You talk to bloggers. You have anchors and correspondents in for off-the-record lunches. So you're a willing participant in that news cycle. GIBBS: Well, you either have to participate in it or you're at the mercy of it. I will say I'm always amused when I turn on the television, and two people are at the same location but in boxes that make it appear as if somehow they don't just not subscribe to what the other one believes, but they're physically separated from any common viewpoint. KURTZ: "The Hollywood Squares." GIBBS: I think the president believes, having traveled around this country for so long now, that there's far more that unites us than divides us. That the truth is what makes really good television are not two people that are at the end of a four-or-five-minute segment going to come to an agreement, but at the end of the four-or- five-minute segment are, you know, maybe 30 seconds away from doing each other bodily harm. KURTZ: How much cable news does the president watch? GIBBS: Very little, and -- KURTZ: So how does he know how bad it is? GIBBS: -- and that makes -- well, he watches -- you don't have to watch much of it to watch the World Wide Wrestling impact of how issues are bantered around. KURTZ: He is right in some of his criticism about a lot of the chatter and debate and argument being pointless and partisan. GIBBS: Right. KURTZ: -- but I kind of get the impression that what really bugs him is the cable chatter that the White House doesn't like. You guys don't complain about MSNBC, whose opinion -- (CROSSTALK) GIBBS: Well, I don't -- I think if you were to talk at individual hosts at MSNBC, you would know that we've been on the other end of many of those phone calls. I don't -- look, again I think it's when you take an issue that's as important as many that we're dealing with, again, and boil it down to a two-and-a-half or four-minute segment where people yell at each other. I'm not entirely sure what that does for people that watch. Maybe that's why, quite frankly, less people are watching. KURTZ: Well, that is true. GIBBS: I would say this too. You know, I think -- KURTZ: A lot of people watching Fox though. GIBBS: I would say that -- KURTZ: Let me ask you about Fox. The White House campaign against Fox News, did that end when Fox's Bret Baier was invited into the Oval Office, who a lot of people have called the interrupt-a-thon interview? GIBBS: Well, I'll let Fox determine whether or not they got out of that interview what they wanted to get out of it based on the fact that -- I mean, I think the uniqueness of having an interview with the president is getting a chance to sit as close as we are and getting that insight. I mean, he could -- this was the last interview the president did before something as historic as health care passed. KURTZ: Right. GIBBS: I don't think historians will look back on that interview and think, boy, we really got a sense of what the president was thinking right before such a historic achievement. KURTZ: But has the White House moved on -- GIBBS: Well, look -- KURTZ: -- from its criticism of Fox? GIBBS: Well, look, Howard, I will say this -- that we are -- as you said, we live in a town in which you have to play the game. And we're happy to put guests on. We're happy to do interviews. Obviously, I take questions from their correspondent each and every day in the briefing. I don't think many people have to watch Fox to understand the political slant that they have. KURTZ: In the news coverage as well as the opinion shows? GIBBS: Well, here's a good example. The president signed the START Treaty last week. And there was a lot of debate about whether us reducing our nuclear warheads was making this country less safe. And then the anchor disappeared, and for several seconds there was a 1960s video footage of a nuclear test and a mushroom cloud. Now what you didn't see was -- you didn't see in any of that, where the last time we are familiar with seeing pictures of START treaties being signed, are that of Ronald Reagan, or when the president makes a pledge to end nuclear weapons on our planet -- KURTZ: Reagan did the same thing. GIBBS: -- it mimics what -- or what Reagan. So I think in that case, you are -- and you've mentioned their increase in cable numbers. They're feeding an audience that they know wants to see and hear a certain side of that argument. KURTZ: And speaking of detractors of this administration, Barack Obama, on several occasions, has called out by name Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity. Doesn't he elevate their stature when he does that? GIBBS: Well, again, their stature is largely elevated by the people that listen. Again, I think it's one of those things where if you're not -- you know, you have in all -- I think in a lot of different phases of the media people can make statements that aren't checked, right? The media, in some cases, covers the food fight, but doesn't necessarily check who started it and whether they started it for a reason that was legitimate or not. KURTZ: So you want more fact-checking, and more accountability? GIBBS: Well, I think you -- I think instead of covering the food fight, covering whether or not what people say is in fact right or wrong. KURTZ: On that point I -- GIBBS: And I think -- KURTZ: On that point I agree with you. President Obama has not held a full-scale news conference since last July. Now, I know your stock answer on this -- a full scale news conference, half an hour, 40 minutes, taking questions from the whole White House press corps. GIBBS: Howard, what did you -- here is my question for you. What do you think he did last Tuesday afternoon at the nuclear security summit? KURTZ: He took some questions. GIBBS: He took some questions. How many questions? KURTZ: You tell me. GIBBS: He took eight questions for probably half an hour. KURTZ: OK. GIBBS: How many -- what would you consider what he did in February, when he went into the briefing room and took -- I'll help out on this one -- six or seven? KURTZ: A mini news conference. (LAUGHTER) KURTZ: Clearly, from the first six months of the term, where you were having a number of primetime news conferences -- and I know people said the president was overexposed then. GIBBS: He wasn't, but -- KURTZ: You guys have -- you guys have pulled back from that particular format. You've decided it's not in your interest -- GIBBS: No, no, no. KURTZ: -- to have that many -- (CROSSTALK) GIBBS: Look, Howard, if it's not in my interest, why did I have the president -- why did I have the president take eight questions from eight different news outlets. Someone we'll say eight questions, some ways, I'm being charitable -- KURTZ: Yes. GIBBS: -- because if you watch any of the questions -- KURTZ: Follow-up, yes. GIBBS: -- there's two or three at a time. So, again, the notion that -- this president has done more interviews -- KURTZ: He has. GIBBS: -- more town hall meetings -- KURTZ: Right. GIBBS: -- where he takes questions from everyday people. And I'll tell you this, Howard. I'm in my seventh year of working for him as a state senator, as a Senate candidate, as a U.S. senator, as a presidential candidate, now as president. There hasn't been one time in the 500 or 1,000 times in which we've done town hall meetings where I've ever known what somebody wanted to ask and when they wanted to ask it. So, this president has taken questions through countless interviews, through answering questions directly from the media. KURTZ: I'm not arguing that he's not accessible to media. I was just making a point about the news conferences. I appreciate your pushback. GIBBS: But, again, I think this is a great and arbitrary Washington measure of -- KURTZ: How accessible a president is. GIBBS: No. I think -- but it isn't, because -- I mean, I don't know if you would consider talking to Scott Wilson at "The Washington Post" to have been answering questions for -- (CROSSTALK) KURTZ: I think all those interviews are important. I just think there is a hunger on the part of the press corps for more press conferences. Let me move on and ask you about the art of the leak. GIBBS: Yes. KURTZ: A couple of weeks ago, "The New York Times" had a front- page story about the president about to announce that day -- the next day -- a new policy on offshore oil drilling. It says, "Unnamed officials who agreed to preview the details on conditions that they not be identified." That's would I would call an authorized leak. Why is it in the White House interest to give one news organizations a story before he makes the announcement? GIBBS: Right. It's interesting. You know, we talk about the news cycle. And if you think about it, what it used to be maybe 10 years ago or 15 years ago. You'd say the news cycle lasted, you know, several hours -- six hours, eight hours. The news cycle now is continuous, right? Every reporter, quite honestly, is a wire reporter, because, immediately, their copy goes up on the Internet, the AP wire, cable television. So -- KURTZ: And we all blog. GIBBS: Right. And Twitter and all that sort of thing. So -- KURTZ: So you need to get out ahead of that cycle? GIBBS: This thing -- the news cycle starts at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. It lasts probably until 10:00 or 11:00 at night. It sleeps only a little bit before it all starts again. And on occasion we want to get ahead of what the news is going to be that day by letting folks know. I will say this -- you know, we had a discussion with the White House correspondents earlier in the year about the use of background sources. And I offered the Correspondents Association -- I said, "Let's end background." Right? "We won't do background, you don't do background." KURTZ: And the reaction? GIBBS: And the specific offer was, if you've got a background source, one, you should put them on the record. And if you're not going to put them on the record, then have somebody at the White House -- KURTZ: Give an on-the-record response to what they have to say. GIBBS: -- give them an opportunity to say that that is or is not true. And we would attach our name to it. KURTZ: Is that because you don't like -- I mean, look, we just talked about an authorized leak. But every single day out of this building across the street, there are leaks. Senior administration officials say this, that and the other thing. A lot of times it's about internal meetings, what did Rahm say, what did Axelrod say? GIBBS: But again -- KURTZ: You don't like those stories. GIBBS: Well mostly because it's because of people that didn't win an argument -- KURTZ: Right. GIBBS: -- in a policy discussion, or the president made a different decision. And then they want to find some way to litigate it in the media. Now, I'm fine with that -- KURTZ: We have the cameras rolling. But don't you ever speak to reporters on background? GIBBS: Absolutely. But -- and I've offered to end it. But it's got to be a two-way street. Like I said, I'm happy to -- if somebody feels so passionately about an argument that they've just lost that they want to call somebody at "The Washington Post" up, why would they not use their name? I'd be happy to do that. KURTZ: Because they don't want be identified. GIBBS: But again, I -- KURTZ: But should we -- so you think journalists shouldn't accept that? GIBBS: I think what we could all do is do better. KURTZ: OK. GIBBS: And I think we could all put what we want to say to the American people and to the news media all on the record. (END VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: Back live in the studio. More of my one-on-one with Robert Gibbs in a moment, including why he says press briefings get so contentious, and his newest love affair, Twitter. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KURTZ: More now of my sit-down at the Old Executive Office Building with Robert Gibbs. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: When you're in the briefing room and just getting hammered by reporters on whatever is the hot issue of the day -- GIBBS: Yes. KURTZ: -- it seems like you have about 57 ways of not answering the question. You'll tell a joke. You will give a very long answer. You'll say, "I'll get back to on that." I sometimes get the impression that you don't like to make news at these briefings. GIBBS: No. I think -- I will tell you, Howard, I spend a lot of time thinking -- not a lot of time. I've spent some time thinking of, I wonder what the briefings would be like if it really wasn't a cable TV show? KURTZ: There was Mike McCurry, who let the cameras in. GIBBS: Yes. And I think Mike would be the first one to tell you it was both the best and the worst decision that he ever made. KURTZ: So you think the correspondents are playing to the cameras? GIBBS: I think we all are. I'm not absolving myself from that. KURTZ: Right. GIBBS: But I think -- KURTZ: But sometimes there are perfectly straightforward questions not necessarily asked with a whole lot of flamboyance that you kind of dance around. And maybe you see that as your job. GIBBS: No, I don't see that as my -- I think, again, if I give a longer answer, it's my hope to give a broader set of context to what might or might not be being asked. KURTZ: And yet, you know that 20 seconds of that at most might get used on an evening newscast. GIBBS: And -- but I think there are people that watch the whole briefing, or there are people that will read the transcript of the briefing. And I think -- again, I think what's important is there are so many issues that we're dealing with that are hard to boil down to 20 seconds. So -- KURTZ: Financial regulation, not a 20-second issue. GIBBS: Financial -- exactly. And that's why, you know, one of the things that we're trying to do more of is bring folks like we did with Secretary Geithner, bring them into the briefing room to talk directly to the White House press corps about the issues that we're working on, on financial reform, what are our bottom lines? But I do wonder -- I do -- again, I wonder at times what it would be like if we turned the cameras off and we could just have a discussion. I sometimes joke that I know when somebody thinks they have a good question, because when I walk in they've already got their make up on. KURTZ: Well, I think the networks probably wouldn't cotton to that suggestion, but I take your point. Before I let you go, you recently joined Twitter. GIBBS: Yes. KURTZ: And I've got to tell you, at first you were kind of boring. You were kind of putting out the talking points and linking to favorable articles. Lately, you seem like you've gotten into it. You even tweeted about an 18-mile bike ride that you took. GIBBS: I needed some advice on how to -- on some biking. And it was -- I have to admit -- KURTZ: What do you get out of being on Twitter? GIBBS: Well, I got on Twitter. The president -- head of states called a news conference, because I don't want to -- when the president did his mini news conference in February, you know, there's the seats along the wall that normally my deputies sit in when I'm up there. So I sat in one of these seats, and -- KURTZ: And they're all -- (CROSSTALK) GIBBS: Right. Bill Burton had his laptop, and Twitter up. And to me, it was fascinating, because I'm watching the White House press corps sitting 10 or 15 feet away from me reacting to and responding to the questions that were asked and the answers that the president were giving -- KURTZ: We're getting a real-time glimpse of what's going on in their heads. GIBBS: It was to me fascinating. And it to me was a -- I thought it was an amazing tool to know -- OK. I mean, it's my job to know what is important to reporters. And this was, to me, a great medium to do that. I also think it's a fabulous medium in which to communicate with not just the White House press corps, but tens of thousands of people that want to know what the president is doing, or a picture of who he met with. And I found it to be fascinating. KURTZ: But, of course, instead of being in the 24-hour news cycle, you're now in the 24-second news cycle on Twitter. GIBBS: Well, it takes an amazing amount of discipline to write out all of what you want to say in 140 characters or less. If you ever -- if you ever watch me do it, it takes me a few minutes to sort of edit even myself down. I just think it's a fascinating, fast- moving medium. I am trying to do a little bit -- I am balancing the fact that it is a -- it's a White House -- it's an official White House account with also sharing -- KURTZ: Your own -- GIBBS: Right, some sort of interesting things. KURTZ: You're the first White House press secretary to have to communicate in 140 characters. GIBBS: It's a great challenge. But it's -- I tell you, it's a lot of fun. KURTZ: Robert Gibbs, thanks very much for sitting down with us today. GIBBS: Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: After that interview, Gibbs tweeted that he had gone kayaking. Now, we don't yet have a Supreme Court nominee, as Gibbs and I discussed. But the White House denounced CBS News this week for a report on one leading contender, Solicitor General Elena Kagan. The CBS Web site reprinted a column by conservative blogger Ben Domenech saying that Kagan would be "the first openly gay justice." Administration officials, speaking on background, say Kagan isn't gay. And when CBS refused to delete the posing, adviser Anita Dunn told me the network was "posting lies" and applying old stereotypes with single women with successful careers. CBSNews.com eventually killed the column and the network and Domenech both apologized for spreading an unsubstantiated rumor. Coming up in the second half of RELIABLE SOURCES, outing Oprah. Kitty Kelley takes on the queen of daytime in her latest controversial celebrity biography. But is a talk show host fair game for questions about her sex life? Plus, courting Conan. The late-night funnyman moving to basic cable. Is this a giant step down for the comic who once held forth on "The Tonight Show"? (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KURTZ: Oprah is a billionaire who sits atop a sizeable media empire -- syndicated talk show, production company, "O" magazine, and the forthcoming Oprah Winfrey Network. But she keeps her distance from most ordinary journalists, granting few interviews these days and using her mini platforms to shape and control her image. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: This has been very embarrassing to me, and I deeply regret leaving the impression that I did from the Larry King show that the truth doesn't matter, because it does. So, I wanted to do for these girls what my father did for me, because at 14 years old, I was headed for a detention home, kicked out of my mother's house, and the detention home was filled. And so I was -- she said, "You can't stay in my house another day." Season 25 will be the last season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." KURTZ (voice-over): Now a celebrity biographer is presenting a somewhat different picture of Oprah. Kitty Kelley, who has done books on Jackie O., Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the Bush family, and the British royals, is out this week with her 500-page take on the talk show queen. (END VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: And Kitty Kelley joins me now in the studio to talk about the book called "Oprah: A Biography." And it's already stirring controversy. Welcome. KITTY KELLEY, AUTHOR, "OPRAH: A BIOGRAPHY": Hi, Howie. KURTZ: You say that lots of major TV programs have refused to have you on to talk about this book because Oprah is such a powerful figure. But you were on "The Today Show" this week. KELLEY: Exactly. The broadcasting boycott has really been overplayed, I think, by the media. KURTZ: You've talked about it. You said, "Barbara Walters, Larry King won't have me on." KELLEY: Yes. Several. KURTZ: How do you know that they're intimidated by Oprah Winfrey? KELLEY: Well, because their producers said to the publisher that they just couldn't afford to rupture their relations with Oprah. But you're right, certainly not "The Today Show," certainly not Fox News, and certainly not CNN. I've had a lot -- KURTZ: Larry King says he hasn't talked to you in five years, so he wouldn't have been involved in the decision. KELLEY: Oh, indeed. He was asked to book this show, but he said he just couldn't do it because of Oprah. KURTZ: Well, his producers were asked to book the show. KELLEY: Right, exactly. When I say "they said," I mean their producers. (CROSSTALK) KURTZ: OK. I just wanted to clarify that. I want to take up on a question that Matt Lauer asked you. You were on "The Today Show," as I mentioned. Let's play that and we'll talk about it on the other side. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MATT LAUER, "THE TODAY SHOW": In your opinion, Kitty, when someone in this society, in this country, accepts the mantle of celebrity, to whatever degree, great celebrity, minor celebrity, do they give up the right to hold some things as personal? KELLEY: No, I don't think so. In Oprah's case, though, she has put it out there. (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: You don't put very much, if at all, off limits in this book about Oprah. KELLEY: No, I don't. And I -- on the question that Matt Lauer offered about privacy, legally there is no privacy. And journalistically, for celebrities, as he says, who accept the mantle of celebrity, it sounds like it comes down from God. KURTZ: Well, she's a huge cultural figure. KELLEY: She's a huge cultural figure. KURTZ: But she's not -- she doesn't hold any public office. Why would you -- KELLEY: I'll tell you why. Because Oprah has such influence in this culture. She has more influence on our lives, possibly, than the government. Think about it. Oprah tells us -- she tells us how to live our best lives. She tells her viewers every single day who they can -- who they should vote for, politicians they should vote for, charities they should contribute to, causes they should support, what medicines to take, what surgeries to have. KURTZ: Well, she gets her fingers in a lot of things. I don't think until Barack -- KELLEY: But those of us who really follow her and embrace her, we need an understanding of this woman. KURTZ: OK. Fair enough. And I don't think until Barack Obama, she told us which politicians to support. But you get into all this speculation about her sexual orientation, her relationship with Gayle King. Why go there? KELLEY: Because when you're doing a biography, you want the total picture. And sexuality is very much a part of it. KURTZ: But you were not able to answer that question? You raised it -- KELLEY: I didn't set out to -- there's a great deal of speculation about Oprah's sexuality because she brought it up. She issued a press release years ago when she went on Ellen DeGeneres' show to play the therapist when Ellen was going to make television history and come out as a lesbian. And Oprah got a lot of feedback from that. She issued a press release, an official statement saying, "I am not gay, I'm not coming out of the closet, I am not a lesbian." In that time, she brought -- this is a woman who's been engaged to Stedman Graham since 1992, and will probably never marry him, at least according to what her father told me. And she travels and is seen more frequently with Gayle King. It is not a question that came from me, it is a question that is raised frequently. KURTZ: An elephant in the room. KELLEY: The elephant in the room. KURTZ: Now, I know you compiled all of Oprah Winfrey's many interviews over the years, but how hard was it to report this book without her cooperation and many of those who were closest to her? KELLEY: I interviewed about 850 people over a period of four years to write this book. And surprisingly, most of my sources are on the record. They range from Phil Donahue, Gloria Steinem, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who adored Oprah. KURTZ: I noticed that, and I wonder if you were responding to criticism from your earlier books that you rely too heavily on unnamed sources, because you do have a lot of people on the record. KELLEY: Well, you know, I try and name every single person. I mean, when I wrote the Frank Sinatra book more than 20 years ago, I thought, I'm putting every single person on the record. You can't do it. You simply can't do it, because people sometimes put their jobs in danger. Employees who talk to me who have worked for Oprah in the past, and a couple that work for her now, stepped forward to talk to me. They did it under real legal pressure. These people have signed confidentiality agreements never to talk. And Oprah, she's even got her magazine, people that work and are associated with her magazine -- few magazines in this country bind their employees to confidentiality agreements. KURTZ: You told the story in the book -- this was about 20 years ago -- that the "New Yorker" magazine wanted the novelist Erica Jong to profile Oprah. They had a friendly relationship. And Erica Jong, on the record, says to you that she did not want anyone -- she, Oprah -- did not want anyone writing about her, especially a white woman for a white publication. And she quotes Oprah Winfrey as saying, "I don't need a honky magazine to canonize me." What do you make of that answer? KELLEY: Well, in the book, the context is she had gotten hammered by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison in "The New York Times" Sunday magazine. And I think she was responding to that. She has really never gotten over that interview. And Howie, you've got to understand that for the last 25 years, Oprah has really, for the most part, had halo coverage. And so when Barbara Grizzuti Harrison came out with this piece in "The New York Times" Sunday magazine, Oprah was incensed. KURTZ: Do you think the press has been overall -- I mean, she's a major, wealthy, self-made woman. Do you think the press overall has been too soft on her? KELLEY: No. KURTZ: You said halo coverage. KELLEY: She has had halo coverage. KURTZ: Why does anybody in our society get halo coverage? KELLEY: I wonder. I wonder, Howie. KURTZ: Well, she -- you know, one of the things that some reviewers have said about your book is that Oprah, herself, has talked about her sexual abuse, the child she gave birth to when s he was 15 that didn't live, her weight issues and all of that. She's opened up a lot of these areas of inquiry, and so that makes it harder for a biographer, I would think, to unearth much that is new. KELLEY: Well, I don't think that's a biographer's job, really, to unearth what's new. I was very lucky that there is a lot in this book that is new, but I don't think when you set out to give the totality of somebody's life, you're necessarily looking for anything new. I mean, when I went to interview her Aunt Katherine (ph) in Mississippi, I had no idea that Vernon Winfrey was not her biological father. But what I did know by that time is that Oprah lives a life cloaked in secrecy. And I found myself as the biographer getting sucked into the secrets. KURTZ: Right. All right. Kitty Kelley, good luck with the book. Thanks very much for coming in this Sunday morning. KELLEY: Thank you, Howie. KURTZ: Up next, the show must go on. Conan O'Brien taking his act to TBS. Is this a troubling sign for the big broadcast networks? (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KURTZ: It was the pinnacle of any comedian's career, but Conan O'Brien didn't get to savor it for long. In what became something of a national spectator sport, he got into a bitingly personal feud with the man he had replaced at "The Tonight Show." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CONAN O'BRIEN, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": You can do anything you want in life. Yes. Yes. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it too. (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: You know the rest. NBC brought Leno back to "The Tonight Show" from his primetime debacle. Conan walked with a $33 million settlement. And everyone figured he would go to Fox. But this week came the surprise announcement. Conan O'Brien had signed with TBS, the home of such reruns as "Married With Children," "Seinfeld," and "Everybody Loves Raymond." TBS, owned by CNN's parent company, Time Warner, hadn't been on anybody's radar. Conan put it this way: "In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly." Joining us now to talk about whether this move makes sense and whether it signals a cultural shift away from the big broadcast networks, in New York, Rachel Sklar, editor-at-large at Mediaite.com. And in Kansas City, Aaron Barnhart, television critic for "The Kansas City Star." Aaron Barnhart, at first glance, this seems like a real comedown for Conan after "The Tonight Show." AARON BARNHART, FOUNDER, "TV BARN": Actually, I didn't follow any of the insider gossip, so I was as surprised as anybody. And yet, the minute they announced it, it sounded terrific. It just sounded like a homerun, but to get inside why it works, I think you have to understand some of the ironies here. He gets to move to 11:00, the earliest he's ever been on in late- night, and yet he arguably is going to be doing edgier material than he did at 12:35 at NBC. He's now doing a program where he's giving up a lot of his audience because cable audiences are traditionally smaller, but it's going to be more advertiser-friendly. So it's actually going to raise his profile. And you know what? At the end of the day, he may actually be able to grab that crown that he dreamed of all along his 17-year journey here. KURTZ: Well, we'll see about that. BARNHART: And that's to be the king of late night. KURTZ: You used the phrase "raise his profile" on TBS. They're not usually used in the same sentence. Rachel Sklar, do you see a benefit to Conan O'Brien not having to chase a mass audience like a Leno or a Letterman? RACHEL SKLAR, EDITOR-AT -LARGE, MEDIAITE.COM: Sure. Conan can invent his own ticket here at TBS. And I think, crucially, what this deal shows is that Conan gets ownership of his show and, you know, the potential of launching other properties. I think what this new media world has shown is you have to go to where your audience is. You can't just expect them to come to you at the vaunted appointed hour the way things always were, because there are simply more choices now and more platforms. The way Conan described how his plan was working perfectly is actually evidence of how he's operating intelligently for this new media space because he's adapting. KURTZ: And he's big on Twitter. So, Aaron Barnhart, does this signify -- he didn't go to Fox because they couldn't make the deal, and the affiliates like that time because they make money off it. But does this signify that for this kind of entertainer, that the broadcast networks are now old hat and that cable is the hot new destination? BARNHART: The late-night market has changed a lot since CBS poured out all those millions of dollars to lure David Letterman over to do an 11:35 show for them. The margins are smaller. I don't think I buy NBC's line that Conan O'Brien was actually losing money for them. I think that was some of that famous Hollywood accounting we hear from. KURTZ: But Leno's audience is now bigger. It's not as big as it once was before the debacle, but it's bigger than what Conan had been drawing. BARNHART: Yes, but, you know, the problem now that NBC has is that Jay Leno is back, and his audience is not bigger than it was before, and it's getting older. In fact, it's aging more rapidly than it would have, I think, if he had just stayed on and not had this mess. And that's going to raise a big issue for NBC in three or four years when it comes to time to renegotiate Jay Leno's deal. KURTZ: Go ahead. SKLAR: NBC only thinks in terms of five years ago. So -- KURTZ: But, Rachel, there was a lot of talk on this program and elsewhere during that whole soap opera about how Leno was coming off as the bad guy because he was coming back after giving up "The Tonight Show" throne and squeezing Conan out of his 1135 timeslot. Well, isn't Conan basically doing the same thing to TBS? George Lopez had been on at that hour and he's agreed to go an hour later to make room for Conan. I mean, it's a business. SKLAR: Well, you know, they've all made a very big point of saying that Conan absolutely would not have "Leno'd another comedian." George Lopez called him to say that he thought it was a great idea. Everyone seems very much on board. I think, actually -- (CROSSTALK) KURTZ: Don't you think that's just a PR spin? SKLAR: It could be spin, but I really doubt it. You know, think that what Conan really gained from that whole situation that happened what seemed ages ago, but was really only a few months ago, was real authenticity. And I think that he's brought that here. Joe Adley (ph) at "The Wrap" said something that was very intelligent. He said that, "Talent, at the end of the day, wants to go where it's loved and wanted." And, you know, Jay Leno said through this whole thing, hey, it's just a business. Well, you know what? People of that caliber talent, they want to go where they can love their work and work with people who appreciate them. BARNHART: And that is the big advantage that cable TV has over network. Network, at the end of the day, still, with its lower audience numbers, has to please a much bigger crowd than cable ever has to. Look at what Conan is coming into. He's going to follow "Family Guy" and "The Office." You couldn't ask for a better audience than the lead-in that he's going to get from those two shows. If he would have been over at Fox, who knows what his lead-in would have been? KURTZ: Well, OK. But at the same time, Jon Stewart, who he'll now be competing with, he follows the lead-in of "South Park." Let me mention one other thing that happened this week, a rather dramatic development at Fox News, where Sean Hannity was yanked back by Fox executives. He was going to do his program in Cincinnati before a live audience. We've seen him out on the road appearing with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann before these live audiences. He's promoting a book. But this was a Tea Party event at which the Tea Party organizers were charging as much as $100 for tickets. That was too much for Fox executives, and Hannity was flown back on his private jet, to be sure, to New York. The plans for that show were canceled. And I think this was a good move by Fox executives. It seems to have given Hannity and some of the other hosts a really loose rein. I am told by sources that Fox now plans to keep a tighter rein on Hannity and others. And I can't remember the last time I've seen a program actually get cancelled and the host unceremoniously ordered back to headquarters. And it was interesting thing that we wanted to share with you. Aaron Barnhart and Rachel Sklar, thanks very much for joining us to talk about the late-night wars, which I'm sure we'll talk about more once Conan makes his debut. Coming up, "THE SOUND OF SUNDAY." Politicians are out talking about financial reform this weekend. Candy Crowley joins us to break it down. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KURTZ: And joining us now for a look at what's been happening on the other Sunday talk shows is Candy Crowley. And Candy, the debate over the administration's financial reform bill really heating up this week. What have Tim Geithner, the treasury secretary, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, been saying about this question of whether there will be future bank bailouts under this legislation? CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Well, first of all, turn the page. It's not the public option any more that they're arguing about on health care, it is this liquidation fund. And Senator McConnell has said all week long this is a bailout. This is yet another bailout, endless bailouts. And the Democrats have been pushing back. And the president said on his Saturday radio show, you know, the Republican leader is being deceitful, so that's where we start the recent war of words. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: I think he ought to talk to his own treasury secretary, who agrees with me, as well as "The Washington Post, "The Wall Street Journal," that there is a bailout fund in the bill that was reported out of the Banking Committee. CROWLEY: But that bailout is funded by the banks themselves, is it not? It's not a taxpayer bailout. MCCONNELL: Well, Robert Reich, who was Bill Clinton's secretary of labor, says it's a bailout fund. I mean, regardless of how the money is produced, it is a bailout fund that sort of guarantees in perpetuity that we'll be intervening once again to bail out these big firms. (END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: That's absolutely not true. And as some of his members say, it was a bit over the top. I have spent a lot of time with Republicans over the last several months, in the last few weeks, even last week, end of last week. And I believe that we are very close on this, that we agree on the vast bulk of the things necessary to end "too big to fail," protect taxpayers in the future. And that's one reason why I'm so confident. (END VIDEO CLIP) CROWLEY: Of course, one of the things that we found with health care reform was that we heard a lot of Republicans, Democrats saying, well, we agree on a lot of things. But in the end, it's that final 10 or 20 percent that gets them. KURTZ: And Republicans saying start over -- CROWLEY: Exactly. KURTZ: -- as they did so many times during the health care debate. CROWLEY: It all has an echo. KURTZ: Let me also ask you about Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He started out with a huge lead in his race for the Senate. Now he's trailing by something like 30 points. There is chatter that he may drop out and run as an Independent. He hasn't flatly denied that, but what's the latest this Sunday morning? CROWLEY: The governor has just tanked. He has tanked to Marco Rubio, who is a Tea Party-backed candidate, more conservative than Crist. Crist is just getting his head handed to him in this thing, and now he has signed a bill very unpopular with Republicans in Florida. KURTZ: He vetoed it. CROWLEY: I'm sorry, he vetoed a bill. You're right. Very unpopular with Republicans. Florida has started all this talk, oh, he's going to turn into an Independent. Now we're seeing two people who were on the talk shows today, Mitch McConnell and John McCain, both of whom are Crist backers in this particular race. You can now hear them sort of beginning to back off. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCCONNELL: It looks like Marco Rubio is running a very effective campaign and seems to have the lead. I'm going to be there behind the Republican nominee, whoever that is. He would lose all Republican support if he were to run as an Independent. (END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I hope that Charlie Crist will remain a Republican. (END VIDEO CLIP) CROWLEY: So, Charlie Crist has got a couple of weeks to figure out his future. KURTZ: It's a fascinating snapshot of the tensions within the Republican Party with some people who were perfectly good Republicans before but now are deemed insufficiently conservative. CROWLEY: At least in the primary process. We'll see how this plays out. But Charlie Crist isn't the only one that's getting a challenge from the right. KURTZ: Candy Crowley, thanks. Still to come, making a buck. As the Library of Congress acquires every public tweet ever posted, is Twitter about to become corrupted by advertising? Your feedback, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) KURTZ: Twitter has become part of a bloodstream of journalism for me and countless others. It's simplicity providing an ideal way of spreading the news. But the company has always wrestled with this question: How could it make any money? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATIE COURIC, CBS NEWS: It might surprise you to learn Twitter has yet to make a dime. KURTZ (voice-over): But that's about to change. The Web site is going to slip 140 character ads onto people's pages -- these are called promoted tweets -- on subjects related to what you're writing about or searching for. So, along with comments from Chuck Todd or Jake Tapper or Ed Henry or Stephen Colbert, you'd get a steady diet of pitches for the likes of Starbucks, Best Buy, Virgin America and Bravo. Well, Colbert did ask co-founder Biz Stone if he had some kind of plan. STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT RAPPORT": Are you going to make money off of this? BIZ STONE, CO-FOUNDER, TWITTER: Yes, we are. COLBERT: How? How are you going -- STONE: We're going to become a strong, profitable, independent company. KURTZ: The move comes as some media holdouts are finally joining Twitter's 105 million registered users and talking about it on the air. KEITH OLBERMANN, MSNBC: We're ready to go if you want to -- here it is. At 8:58:43, it's out. Yes, there it is. See. I give up. I was wrong, young and foolish. COURIC: I'm Katie Couric. Thanks for watching. Good night. KURTZ: I asked my 24,000 followers what they think of the new advertising policy, and here are some of the responses. Scott Easeman (ph): "I have no issue with it. Twitter is a free service. They've given us a great service. Time to give back." Politicite (ph): "Another way to trash a good thing. It's all downhill from here." JackStateFan (ph), "There are already a lot of self-promoting selling tweets on here already." That's true. People like to promote themselves. TonyFratto -- hey, he's the former Bush White House spokesman -- "Nah. I kind of like the sponsored tweets. Fun. Trying to determine what the tweet ads say about me." (END VIDEOTAPE) KURTZ: Look, if that's the price of staying in business, I want to make sure that I can keep on tweeting and, more important, reading the tweets of lots of interesting people from all walks of life. After all, it's Twitter. At least the ads will be short. Well, that's it for this edition of RELIABLE SOURCES. I'm Howard Kurtz. Join us again next Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern for another critical look at the media. You can also follow us on our Facebook page and you can check me out on Twitter. Now "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. That begins right now.


text:
Whenever we speak about God we are engaged in theology. The term "theology" means a word (logos) about God (theos), so when anyone speaks about God, whether that person dropped out of high school or completed a PhD in philosophy, he or she is engaged in theology. Theology is not reserved for those in the academy; it is an aspect of thought and conversation for all who live and breathe, who wrestle and fear, who hope and pray.
Theological questions surround our lives, whether we know it or not. A wife and husband facing infertility inevitably struggle through deep theological questions, whether or not they want to voice them. College students working through issues of identity, culture, politics and ethics struggle—in one way or another—with theological convictions and how to live them. Our concepts about the divine inform our lives more deeply than most people can trace. Whether we view God as distant or near, as gracious or capricious, as concerned or apathetic, the conclusions we reach—whether the result of careful reflection or negligent assumptions—guide our lives.
Christians must care deeply about theology. If the true God is renewing our lives and calling us to worship him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23), then such worship includes our thoughts, words, affections and actions. Do we want to worship Yahweh or waste time and effort on a deity we have constructed in our own image? Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), a nineteenth-century atheist philosopher, argued that talk about God is no more than amplified talk about ourselves: "God" is merely the projection of human thoughts and desires. Surprising as it may seem, Christians share a fundamental concern with Feuerbach, ...1
126 pp., $9.60
Subscribe to Christianity Today and get access to this article plus 60+ years of archives.
- Home delivery of CT magazine
- Complete access to articles on ChristianityToday.com
- Over 120 years of magazine archives plus full access to all of CT's online archives
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingDallas Megachurch Puts On Mass Wedding for Dozens of Cohabitating CouplesPastor's challenge asks members to honor God in their relationship—that means marry or move out.
- From the MagazineDon't Paint the OrphanageWe know what not to do on a short-term mission trip. What are we left with?
- RelatedMartin LutherPassionate reformer
- Editor's PickWorld Vision Flips the Script on Child SponsorshipIn the ministry's first major innovation in seven decades, the children now do the choosing.


text:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon is advocating ways to keep college affordable as new research shows average student loan debt has topped $26,000.
Simon presented ideas during a Tuesday visit to the University of Illinois Springfield. She supports legislation to require all colleges in the state to publish so-called College Choice Reports disclosing net costs, average debt and completion rates. That would allow prospective students to comparison shop.
Simon wants the Monetary Award Program to provide more targeted assistance and reduce the achievement gap between low-income and higher-income students.
She also advocates making the federal American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent.
According to a Pew Research Center report released this month, students took on an average of about $26,700 in loans. That's a 14 percent increase from three years earlier.


text:
Maggette's career down to Spurs or retirement
When general manager R.C. Buford called Corey Maggette in September with an invitation to join the Spurs at training camp, the veteran small forward had a compelling reason to say yes.
Namely, he had no other NBA offers.
"It was either this or I was going to retire," Maggette said.
Two games into his 15th NBA preseason, life is still that black and white for Maggette.
Either he will make the Spurs, claiming for himself the 15th and final roster spot as a backup to emerging star Kawhi Leonard, or he will call it a career.
"I'm either going to play, or I'm not," Maggette said. "And if not, I'll be done."
That isn't a threat. It's simply reality for a player less than a month from turning 34 and on the back nine of his career.
With Leonard held out of Sunday's 106-99 preseason loss to Phoenix at the AT&T Center, to be preserved for Monday's exhibition in Denver, Maggette was offered a prime chance to state his case against the Suns.
He responded with a mixed bag that included 10 points but only one field goal, two turnovers and six fouls that sent him to the bench with 3:02 remaining.
But Maggette also did what Maggette does, plowing to the foul line for eight free throws, making them all. It was a familiar M.O. for a player who once averaged 10 foul shots a game for an entire season.
"He looks like he's caught on to what we're trying to do," coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's an intelligent player. He's been in the league a while. He knows how to fit in, and that's what he's trying to do now, see if he can absorb enough to be part of this team or not."
The Spurs remain in the market for a big-bodied swingman who can offer Leonard an occasional breather without sacrificing size on the perimeter.
The door opened for the 6-foot-6 Maggette to perhaps seize the role when his top competition for the spot, Sam Young, was waived Thursday less than 24 hours after turning in an 0-for-6 clunker against CSKA Moscow marred by questionable shot selection.
Maggette's approach to Sunday's start, his first appearance for the Spurs this preseason, was just not to play himself out of a job.
"It's just go out there and play basketball," Maggette said. "I'm smart enough to do that. Just go out there and be consistent as possible."
The usual suspects played well for the Spurs against the Suns, with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili each scoring in double digits in stints that bled into the third quarter.
Newcomer Jeff Ayres, competing for a bench role in Popovich's frontcourt rotation, supplied 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.
It was Maggette, walking the tightrope between having a job or not, who most felt the heat of the Kleig lights.
An accomplished NBA scorer — he averaged at least 20 points in three separate seasons, including a high of 22.2 with the L.A. Clippers in 2004-05 — Maggette admits it requires some pride-swallowing to compete for work alongside a handful of players destined for the Development League.
After a 2012-13 season in Detroit in which he averaged 5.3 points in 18 games and did not play after Dec. 15, Maggette also realizes his options were limited.
"It's been a great career, a great blessing for me as well as my family," he said. "If I could get an opportunity here, it would be great. If not, this game has been good to me."
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN


text:
Mobilize Your Business
Many small businesses you interact with in your everyday life have their own dedicated mobile app — be it the corner cafe or the beauty spa downtown. These companies are ahead of the game when it comes to taking their marketing to the next level.
Be Visible to
Customers at All Times
Statistics show that the average American spends more than two hours a day on their mobile device.
Create a Direct
Marketing Channel
Apps serve many functions: provide general info, prices, booking forms, search features, user accounts, messengers, news feeds, and much more.
Cultivate Customer Loyalty
Build Brand Recognition
Amazing features
Link to iTunes, Sound Cloud, Podcasts and mp3 files
Push Notifications
Send Push Notifications to all users or individual users
Create surveys with logical triggers, download results.
Real Time Chat
Create public chatrooms or let your users create their own private rooms.
Create a list of geolocated places, displayed on a map with directions
Loyalty Cards
Replace paper punch cards and your customers will never misplace their cards
In Box
Send private messages with individual content to individual users, they'll receive your messages in their app inbox, and they can reply
Create your own listings of open positions with descriptions, application and salaries
In App Messaging
Notify your users of app only promotions and offers when they open your app
Give your clients the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, send a photo or simply say hello
Allow users to set appointments by location and provider
Keep your customers up to date on events, start times, make reservations or purchase tickets
Mobile Commerce
Make every device a point of sale!
Keep your customers engaged and entertained. Create Quiz's about current events, your business or anything you want.
Reward your app customers with special offers and discounts.
Scratch Card
Add fun and user engagement to your app, users can scratch to reveal offers or rewards.
The AppWizards
We create and manage technology
enabled business solutions.
© 2019 Custom PHP Design.
Aiken, SC


text:
Mitt Romney is under fire from Democrats on Capitol Hill – and "friendly fire" from some Republicans – to release more of his income tax returns. Should members of Congress, or at least congressional leaders, be expected do the same?
If you ask congressional members themselves, the answer you'll get is a resounding double-standard no – or merely maybe.
Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, is drafting legislation that will require all presidential candidates to release 10 years of tax returns and to disclose overseas accounts. The measure is prompted by Mr. Romney's "stunning lack of transparency," he said in a statement.
Will he propose extending that standard to members of Congress?
"I'm looking at that," he said in a C-Span interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
Romney has released his 2010 return and promises to release the 2011 return, but he has rebuffed calls to release returns from further back. "None of the tax returns are required by law to be put out," he told Fox News. "What is required by law – the financial disclosure – has already been made." President Obama has released tax returns from 2000-2011 and posted them on his campaign website.
It wouldn't be the first time that Congress held the president and members of the executive branch to a higher standard than it holds itself. When Congress passed ethics legislation in 1978 to correct abuses of the Watergate era, lawmakers exempted themselves from key provisions, including "revolving-door" restrictions on lobbying former colleagues.
Congress also exempted itself from the 1966 Freedom of Information Act – an exemption that extends even to commissions created by Congress, such as the so-called 9/11 commission.
For a time, senators routinely submitted their tax returns in a sealed envelope delivered to the ethics committee, to be opened only if needed to inform an investigation. But the shift of financial records online ended even that practice.
"In an Internet age, those documents will be everywhere instantaneously," says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Princeton University. "A sealed envelope in the Senate is different than having tax forms circulating throughout the world, uncontrolled and unedited."
Unlike tax returns, financial disclosure forms for member of Congress are imprecise and requires members only to provide information within great ranges of income or assets, such as (no joke) $1 million to $5 million or $25 million to $50 million.
All Republicans and nearly two-thirds of Democrats in National Journal's most recent Congressional Insiders poll said that lawmakers should not have to disclose their tax returns.
When McClatchy News recently surveyed members of Congress, only 17 of 535 lawmakers agreed to release their most recent tax return. Nineteen declined. Most did not respond.
Asked at last week why members of Congress don't hold themselves to the standard as presidential candidates, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: "Some people think the same standard should be held for the ownership of the news media in the country, who are writing these stories about all of this. What do you think of that?"
Republican House Speaker John Boehner, asked the same question, declined to answer.
"There is a lack of transparency in Congress overall," says Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "It's very hard to make a determination of how much stock a member really owns."
"Tax returns tend to be a lot clearer," she adds. "Overall, we want to know the assets that any public official holds, so we can determine if they take actions that have more of a private benefit than a public benefit."
Levin, who says he has released seven years of tax returns, says he felt an obligation. "I felt a need to put my returns out because of the role I may play in tax reform," he told C-Span's Newsmakers.
As for requiring colleagues to do the same, he wants first to talk to both Republicans and Democrats. "This is not a partisan issue," he says. "I'd like to put in legislation that came from a bipartisan consensus and discussion."


text:
The Earthquakes signed veteran German right back Andreas Gorlitz as the club prepares for its MLS season opener March 15 against Real Salt Lake at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Quakes will also host Mexico's FC Toluca on March 11 in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
"Andreas is an excellent right back with a ton of experience," Quakes general manager John Doyle said in a club release. "He's great at getting forward, and we're excited to have him join the club."
After defender Steven Beitashour was traded to Vancouver on Jan. 27, Gorlitz, 32, and Brandon Barklage, a former New York Red Bulls regular, have been earmarked to fill the void at right back.
Gorlitz joins the Quakes after 12 years as a German professional. He began his career with TSV 1860 Munchen in 2001, and made 37 Bundesliga appearances over three seasons. The club transferred Gorlitz to Bayern Munich, where he started five games his first year, made two UEFA Champions League appearances and earned two national team caps. However, a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in a Champions League match against Juventus sidelined him until 2006.
Gorlitz returned to action with Bayern Munich II, making 21 appearances before returning to the first team in 2006-07. His was on loan with Karlsruher SC from 2007-09, before a brief return to Bayern Munich for the 2009-10 season. Gorlitz spent the next three seasons with FC Ingolstadt 04, making 63 appearances over two seasons making his way to the Earthquakes.


text:
Andy Murray dismantled tennis' world number one Roger Federer in straight sets in their semi-final to continue his remarkable winning run at the Shanghai Masters.
The two-time defending champion made it into another final at the tournament following a high-class display in a 6-4 6-4 win. The Scot, who has never lost in Shanghai, returned superbly to set up a title match with Novak Djokovic, the man he beat to win the US Open last month.
The world number three kept his focus amid some confusion at the start of the second set. He saw six break points go begging and was told the roof would be closed as light rain started to fall. As the roof was closing, Federer went on to hold his serve, but the rain quickly stopped, the roof reopened and the Swiss then had no answer to Murray.
The rain returned before Murray served for the match and the roof was closed completely this time. A substantial delay led to both players going off court, but it could not derail the Scot as he closed out the match on his return. He started like a train, breaking in the opening game of the match with some booming shots.
Federer, though, responded in kind, levelling the scores after his opponent had fought back from 0-30 down to 30-30 only to surrender the game with a weak unforced error. Murray had another chance to break in game three, but the Swiss dug in to hold.
The world number one was threatening to find his rhythm, but Murray was also looking strong and a huge forward winner which wrong-footed Federer helped him get back to 2-2. He then raced into a 0-40 lead before a Federer double fault gave him a second break. Four successive holds gave Murray the chance to serve for the set at 5-4 and he did so.
The game of the match came at the start of the second set. Murray carved out six break points thanks to some superb returning and stunning passing shots, only for Federer to save each one. At deuce number seven, Federer pointed out to the umpire drops of rain were starting to fall and claimed the court was becoming slippery.
Federer got his wish for the roof to be closed, much to Murray's apparent frustration, perhaps a reminder of the Wimbledon final when he lost to Federer under the Centre Court roof. Play continued while the roof was closing and Murray got a seventh break point, only for Federer to save it at the end of a truly incredible, marathon point.
Both players looked certain to win it at one stage only for their opponent to somehow stay alive before Federer finally ended it with a cute drop shot which Murray, for once, was just unable to get to. And the Swiss then sent down an ace to hold for 1-0. As the rain relented, Murray got the good news the roof would open again and he made it 1-1.
Both players held for 2-2 before the Scot got his nose in front again, breaking for a 3-2 lead. Murray consolidated his advantage to go 4-2 in front and maintained that break. There was yet more confusion and a long delay while the roof was closed properly before Murray was finally given the chance to serve out the match, which he did on his first match point.


text:
Like the ballerina she once aspired to be, Priscilla Clarkson turned the complex choreography of her exceptionally full life into something dazzling to behold.
"You'd look at her, and it was a bit breathtaking," said Maria Urso, one of Dr. Clarkson's former doctoral students.
As dean of the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dr. Clarkson was the key administrator guiding to completion the program's new complex, into which students will move for the first time on Friday, just days after her death early Monday in her Leverett home.
"She was a visionary leader," said James V. Staros, the university's provost and senior vice chancellor of academic affairs. "She was uncommonly intelligent, even among academics. She was a star scientist."
Dr. Clarkson, who was 66 and had been diagnosed about four years ago with breast cancer, was also devoted to creating an exemplary undergraduate educational experience. "She was committed to the honors college because it was a way of modeling what undergraduate education can be at a large public university," Staros said.
Leading the honors college was less a capstone than a continuation of her life on a campus that was Dr. Clarkson's academic home since she arrived as an 18-year-old student. She received her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from UMass Amherst, and after graduation immediately started teaching there, becoming a distinguished university professor of kinesiology and an associate dean before taking the reins of the honors college in 2006.
While rising swiftly as an academic and an administrator, Dr. Clarkson also founded and ran the university's Muscle Biology and Imaging Lab and lent her scholarly expertise to everything from a state panel to NASA and the NCAA. She also was a fellow and former president of the American College of Sports Medicine.
"Priscilla Clarkson was an elegant thinker, collaborator, and person whose legacy will continue to unfold," Dr. William W. Dexter, the sports medicine organization's current president, said in a statement after her death. "She was an exemplary scientist, teacher, and mentor."
As a scientist, she studied muscles: how they work when they function properly and what happens when they are injured or atrophy through disuse or aging.
Patty Freedson, a professor who chairs the university's kinesiology department, said that early on Dr. Clarkson took a pioneering approach to looking at every aspect of muscles. As research techniques became more sophisticated, Freedson said, Dr. Clarkson delved deeper into muscles and added the molecular level to her areas of expertise, "never forgetting the importance of how exercise could help inform that understanding."
Freedson added that Dr. Clarkson "always had a vision for direct application to real-life situations." NASA sought Dr. Clarkson's opinion about how to ensure the health of astronauts whose muscles are little used in zero gravity, but she was as quick to respond to an e-mail from a weight lifter who could not overcome a bout of soreness in overused muscles.
"She was famously accessible," said Daniel Gordon, acting dean of the Commonwealth Honors College. "She rarely took more than 15 minutes to return an e-mail, and anyone could approach her. She worked apparently around the clock."
Indeed, Urso said, "she was one of those people who you thought, 'Do you have a 30-hour day and the rest of us have 24?' She always had room for one more person in her lab, one more project."
Born Priscilla Massei, she grew up in Worcester as the older of two children. Her late father, Edward, ran his own print shop.
At UMass Amherst, she received a bachelor's in zoology in 1969, a master's in marine science and zoology in 1973, and a doctorate in exercise science and human movement in 1977, the year she began her teaching career as an assistant professor in the department of exercise science.
"She had a great love of ballet that she developed as a young person," said her husband, Ron Pipkin, a professor emeritus of legal studies at UMass Amherst. At 5 foot 2, he added, "she was always frustrated early on that she was too short to be a ballerina."
Instead, she served at various times as president, board member, and choreographer for the Pioneer Valley Ballet ensemble in Easthampton, for which she performed annually in the role of the mother in "The Nutcracker." In addition to some 200 scholarly papers, she wrote books about sports medicine and dance.
An earlier marriage ended in divorce, but Dr. Clarkson, who had already begun publishing under that byline, "liked the name and she kept it," said Pipkin, whom she met in a crowded coffee shop on the campus.
"I was at a table with an empty chair, and she came by with a tray looking for a place," he said. "I invited her to sit, not knowing if we would end up talking, but we did. And we've been together ever since."
They married in 1981 and lived in Leverett on 2 acres that overlook the Connecticut River. Dr. Clarkson lavished so much attention on landscaping around their home that visitors might not guess she had a day job.
"Our house is surrounded by beautiful gardens," her husband said, and part of the property is filled with about 20 flowering trees, each planted to commemorate an event such as a birthday or anniversary.
In addition to her husband, Dr. Clarkson leaves her mother, the former Mary Lincoln, and her brother, Jay Massei, both of Millbury.
The university will announce the date for its celebration of Dr. Clarkson's life and career, which included receiving the Chancellor's Medal from UMass Amherst in 1997.
"Her spirit and love of learning will be deeply missed," Kumble R. Subbaswamy, the university's chancellor, said in a statement.
Current and past students will also miss a professor who was a life-changing mentor for so many, said Urso, who is the director of clinical research at Arteriocyte Medical Systems Inc. in Hopkinton.
Dr. Clarkson was so learned that she could wax poetic about something as minute as the part of a cell that produces power. "She would talk about mitochondria like she was talking about the Sistine Chapel," Urso recalled.
Yet turning an artist's eye to research, teaching, and administering a lab, "she absolutely did everything like a ballerina, with grace and with poise, just perfectly executed, and with a scientific perspective," Urso said. "And she even handled her illness that way."
A voracious reader who filled her home's bookshelves, Dr. Clarkson was no stranger to the clinical trials she participated in as a cancer patient, having run research studies in her own field. "The doctors always laughed and said Priscilla seemed to know as much about what was going on as they did," her husband said.
A great lover of dogs and cats who insisted that her own research only involve human subjects, Dr. Clarkson added a Shih Tzu mix from a shelter to her troupe of pets at home a month before she died. They bonded immediately.
"Goldie just sort of knew her job," Pipkin said.
Their home was filled with pet toys purchased over the years, and "it was clear that Goldie never had any," he said. "And she began bringing them one by one onto the bed, for Priscilla. And today she stopped."
Bryan Marquard can be reached at bmarquard@ globe.com.


text:
Made in Katy, Texas Product of the Week – Prairie's End Woodcrafts
Prairie's End Woodcrafts
"Little Woodshop on the Katy Prairie"
26810 Prairie Lane
Katy, Texas 77494
Owned and operated by wood craftsman Lloyd E. Stahl, Prairie's End Woodcrafts carries handmade classic spinning wheels, high-end rocking horses and wood turning items. His websites have beautiful photgraphs of Mr. Stahl's creations, which include artistic vessels, turned bowls, goblets, vases, bandsaw boxes, plates, ornaments, furniture, wild bird mobiles, and household items. His companion website carries an extensive variety of wood for sale primarily from his own sawmill including Texas Honey Mesquite, Texas Ebony, Eastern Black Walnut, Huisache (Sweet Acacia), American Sycamore, Bodark (Osage Orange or Bois d'Arc or Hedgeapple), Black Cherry, Pecan, Texas Live Oak and Water Oak, other Texas wood, "foreign" wood, rough-turned bowls, and Texas pen blanks. I know that it is only June, but let the Christmas shopping begin!


text:
Jabong Offer Get 70% Off + Extra 15% Off on Women Handbags. Use jabong coupon code required get this offer.
Buy Leather Laptop Bag – upto 65% Off at Makemyorders.com
Make My Orders Coupon – Get Flat 10% OFF Sitewide
Ecouponshop.com, Pehchan Wahi Soch Nayi…… Why You pay full prices? when Ecouponshop offer you to get big & attractive products with great discounts. If you bearing in mind saving, your at the right website. We created a one-stop location when you plan to shopping online.
Input email of your friend.
Input optional message for your friend.