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Nearly six years after effectively exiting China, eBay.com Inc. announced its return today to what may soon be the world's largest e-commerce market.
EBay will create a web store called eBay Style in a partnership with Xiu.com, a retailer that has been selling fashion and luxury goods online in China since 2008. The new site, ebay.xiu.com, will sell goods from some 5,000 brands that sell on eBay.com. EBay will select the goods to offer Chinese consumers, translate product descriptions and provide site search functionality.
Chinese shoppers increasingly have been coming to eBay's English site, with sales to Chinese consumers increasing at 40% a year, says Melanie Tan, an eBay vice president. "We believe that in the future Chinese consumers will use eBay as a passport to global fashion styles, especially for leading women's brands and accessories, and menswear, because our broad selection of new, branded and designer merchandise will be unmatched in China," Tan says.
"Our mission is to bring the best of the world to China, so eBay, with its global access, is an ideal partner for us," says George Ji, CEO of Xiu.com. "Through our curation efforts, we also hope to introduce a new, more inspiring buying experience to Chinese consumers." Xiu.com attracts 4.6 million unique visitors per month and 8.9 million monthly visits, according to comScore Inc., which measures traffic to web sites.
The partnership with Xiu.com gives eBay a new shot at the Chinese e-retail market, which has grown substantially since the company folded its China online marketplace into online properties of web portal Tom Online in late 2006. China's Ministry of Commerce reported $124 billion in consumer online purchases in 2011, and a 53.7% growth rate. That compared to $194 billion in U.S. e-retail sales and a 16.1% growth rate in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. If those growth rates were to continue for the next two years, China's e-retail sales would total $293 billion in 2013 versus $261 billion for the U.S.
A report today from Alibaba Group—whose online marketplace Taobao.com drove eBay from China—underscores how quickly China's rapidly growing middle class is taking to online shopping. Alibaba reported that its two big online marketplaces, Taobao, which is primarily for smaller sellers, and Tmall, for larger brands, generated 19.1 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) in sales yesterday, on "singles day" in China, a Chinese version of Valentine's Day that's become a big day for online sales. (The date November 11, was chosen for this newly minted holiday because of the four ones in the notation 11/11.)
Alibaba reported that retailers on Tmall.com sold 13.2 billion RMB worth of merchandise and Taobao.com sellers 5.9 billion RMB. Alibaba noted that those sales on Alibaba's properties alone—and other Chinese e-retailers also promoted sales yesterday—exceeded the $1.25 billion in U.S. sales last Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, as reported by comScore. The Chinese e-commerce giant also said its sales yesterday were nearly four times the roughly 5 billion RMB sold on its platform on Nov. 11, 2011.
International brands among the 10,000 Tmall merchants participating in what Alibaba calls the 11.11 Shopping Festival included adidas, Nike, Gap, Toys 'R' Us and Japan's Uniqlo. Domestic companies include Yihaodian, Yintai, Newegg, Vipshop, Dandgdang and Jiuxian. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently acquired a 51% interest in Chinese e-retailer Yihaodian.
While most of yesterday's sales were on Tmall than Taobao, that's because it was Tmall that initially promoted the Singles Day sale in 2009 and remains most associated with it in consumers' minds, an Alibaba spokeswoman says. For all of 2012, Alibaba has said that it expects Taobao's sales to exceed those of Tmall by a ratio of five to one, with sales on Taobao totaling 1 trillion RMB (US$160.5 billion) and Tmall 200 billion ($US32.1 billion).Favorite


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Desert Nights players prefer playing slot machines, and other games. Members win on classic and video slots, but also hit progressive jackpots. There definitely should be a large number of smaller winners in this great Rival powered casino, that we have not counted in the stats.
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text: arashiyama Published 22nd September 2015 at 851 × 315 in arashiyama ← Previous Next → Arashiyama, the bamboo forest. Mbithe Nzomo Mbithe is a software developer at Andela and loves all things tech! You can probably find her sitting barefoot somewhere writing beautiful code while singing along to really loud Japanese music. 🙂 http://mbithenzomo.com


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The CIA's Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren't Even Human
As a former trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries
By Tom Vanderbilt
Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe
There would be a rustle of oily black feathers as a raven settled on the window ledge of a once-grand apartment building in some Eastern European capital. The bird would pace across the ledge a few times but quickly depart. In an apartment on the other side of the window, no one would shift his attention from the briefing papers or the chilled vodka set out on a table. Nor would anything seem amiss in the jagged piece of gray slate resting on the ledge, seemingly jetsam from the roof of an old and unloved building. Those in the apartment might be dismayed to learn, however, that the slate had come not from the roof but from a technical laboratory at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. In a small cavity at the slate's center was an electronic transmitter powerful enough to pick up their conversation. The raven that transported it to the ledge was no random city bird, but a U.S.-trained intelligence asset.
Half a world away from the murk of the cold war, it would be a typical day at the I.Q. Zoo, one of the touristic palaces that dotted the streets of Hot Springs, Arkansas, in the 1960s. With their vacationing parents inca tow, children would squeal as they watched chickens play baseball, macaws ride bicycles, ducks drumming and pigs pawing at pianos. You would find much the same in any number of mom-and-pop theme parks or on television variety shows of the era. But chances are that if an animal had been trained to do something whimsically human, the animal—or the technique—came from Hot Springs.
Two scenes, seemingly disjointed: the John le Carré shadows against the bright midway lights of county-fair Americana. But wars make strange bedfellows, and in one of the most curious, if little-known, stories of the cold war, the people involved in making poultry dance or getting cows to play bingo were also involved in training animals, under government contract, for defense and intelligence work. The same methods that lay behind Priscilla the Fastidious Pig or the Educated Hen informed projects such as training ravens to deposit and retrieve objects, pigeons to warn of enemy ambushes, or even cats to eavesdrop on human conversations. At the center of this Venn diagram were two acolytes of the psychologist B.F. Skinner, plus Bob Bailey, the first director of training for the Navy's pioneering dolphin program. The use of animals in military intelligence dates back to ancient Greece, but the work that this trio undertook in the 1960s promised an entirely new level of sophistication, as if James Bond's Q had met Marlin Perkins.
"We never found an animal we could not train," says Bailey, 76, who in his career has done everything from teaching dolphins to detect submarines to inventing the Bird Brain, an apparatus that enabled a person to play tick-tack-toe against a chicken. (One is in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.) "Never," he repeats, as we sit in the book-cluttered living room of his modest lakefront house in Hot Springs. "Never."
As I try to summon particularly challenging creatures—Alligators? Moles? Crustaceans?—he asks, "Do you know who Susan Garrett is?" I do not. Garrett, it turns out, is a world champion trainer in the sport of dog agility. A few years ago, Bailey was teaching a course on stimulus control for her students. His stimulus was a laser pointer. One day, he was in the bathroom and saw a spider. "I looked down at this spider and said, hmmm." He took out his laser, turned it on, and gently blew on the spider. "Spiders don't like wind—it blows their web down," he says. "They pull themselves down into the smallest size they can get and hunker down."
Turn on laser. Blow. Turn on laser. Blow. Bailey did this at several intervals during the day. "By the time I finished all I had to do is turn that light on," he says, and the spider would go defensive. He returned to the classroom where Garrett was lecturing and announced: "You've got a trained spider in your bathroom."
This is Psych 101: Pavlovian, or "classical," conditioning. The laser is a conditioned stimulus, the breath an unconditioned stimulus. Over time, the spider so associates one with the other that the mere appearance of the former is enough to trigger a "conditioned response."
While Pavlov plays a part in our story—"I have a saying in the training business," Bailey says, "Pavlov is always on your shoulder"—the real inspiration is B.F. Skinner, the Harvard University psychologist who was, in the middle of the 20th century, the most cited scholar of the human mind after Freud. Skinner popularized "operant conditioning," a practice based less on primal reflex responses and more on getting animals (including humans) to do things voluntarily, based on cues in the environment. When "behavior is followed by a consequence," Skinner wrote, "the nature of the consequence modifies the organism's tendency to repeat the behavior in the future." In his famous operant-conditioning chamber, or "box," an animal learns to associate an action with a reward. He favored pigeons, which received food for pecking at certain buttons.
From This Story
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Accountability through Documentation
Re-Write 36CFR, Subchapter B
Although Subchapter B was reorganized in 2009 and went through the Federal Register process, little changed. The words were simply put in different places. Existing practices as described may have suited the Federal Agencies in the past, but they haven't kept up with the times. Funding and staffing is shrinking and the manner in which records are created has changed completely from the manner in which the CFR was written... more »


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TTC Extra: President Trump's Mental Health
Special | 5m 8s
Experts find that the President might not be mentally stable. They question if his narcissistic-like persona may effect his decision making. Panel: Asra Nomani, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rina Shah Bharara, Dana White
Aired: 02/17/17
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Funding for TO THE CONTRARY is provided by Sam's Club and the Life Technologies Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Colcom Foundation, the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation, and the Sanofi-Aventis Foundation.


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Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
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Wednesday March 7, 2012 6:23 pm
GarageBand updated to 6.0.5
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Music, Software
Apple just updated GarageBand to version 6.0.5, bringing with it compatibility with the updated iOS version of the software, as well as squashing a few bugs. You can download the update now through Software Update or the Mac App Store!
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BOSTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says the U.S. rockers' lead singer, Steven Tyler, apparently bagged on the band after a United Arab Emirates show.
Speaking with the Las Vegas Sun Friday, Perry said he believes Tyler quit Aerosmith after a recent concert in Abu Dhabi and an online report appears to confirm his suspicion.
"Steven quit, as far as I can tell," Perry said. "I don't know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever."
Perry told the Sun he would attempt to keep Aerosmith moving forward, even if Tyler part ways with his bandmates.
"Right now I'm adjusting to how we're going to go on," Perry said from his home in Boston.
Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the Boston Herald Tyler, 61, announced after the band's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix show that he was planning on going solo.
Hamilton downplayed Tyler's comment, saying Aerosmith members are no strangers to conflict from their nearly 40 years together.
"Steven's always mad at us," Hamilton said.


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The Jayden Nightstand features a perfect combination of elegance and charm. With a simple motif, vintage white finish, and touch of texture surrounding the drawer, this posh piece's heirloom feel speaks to its timeless beauty.
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In case you missed it this afternoon, food editors from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen hosted their 3rd Google+ Hangout video—"New Uses For Mason Jars!"—with three of our favorite bloggers. You already know that mason jars are great as drinking glasses, for making salad dressing or (duh!) canning, but have you ever dyed one hot pink with food coloring? Or used one to make a cinnamon-sugar shaker? Watch the video on Good Housekeeping's YouTube channel or catch what you missed via the recap below. We'll be posting a new video next month, so follow Good Housekeeping on Google+ to stay in the know!
1. Homemade Sugar Shakers: Confectioners' & Cinnamon-Sugar
A trick you learn in culinary school is to make your own sugar shaker on the fly—you put confectioners' sugar in a paper cup, cover the opening with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. It's a fast-and-dirty way to decorate dessert plates or dust waffles without having to get out a sieve or other bulky kitchen tool. Katie Holdefehr took the idea and gave it her own elegant twist: She filled a mason jar with confectioners' sugar, covered the opening with cheesecloth (in place of the jar top), then secured it with a rubber band and screwed on the jar ring to cover it. You could leave 'em plain but Katie decorated the jars with colorful cupcake liners and labels. She also made a cinnamon-sugar variation: Use a hammer and nail to punch holes into the jar top, then secure the top/ring on a jar filled with cinnamon-sugar. It's just the thing to put out for a family brunch—especially if you're making French toast!
2. Mason Jar Chocolate Pudding For Two - Recipe byMelissa Coleman
Melissa Coleman, designer and founder of the blog The Faux Martham, shared her go-to mason jar project: Homemade Chocolate Pudding (portioned for two)! You can get the recipe on her blog, here. Melissa's tip is to pour the pudding into jars while it's still hot, this way it'll settle and cool perfectly smooth. For a springy twist, top with a dollop of whipped cream and a handful of fresh raspberries!
3. Layered Gift Mason Jars: Lentil Soup and Fudgy Brownies
Next up, Susan Westmoreland—our brilliant Food Director—shared 2 ideas for giftable mason jar mixes: Curried Lentil Soup & Fudgy Cocoa Brownies. You'll find the exact measurements for the soup, here. For the brownie mix (below), here's what you do...
MAKES: about 16 brownies
Into a 3 or 4 cup mason jar, layer 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Then give the jar's recipient the following instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.
2. In a 3 quart bowl, microwave a stick of butter on medium until melted.
3. Beat in 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
4. Dump jar contents into bowl; stir until incorporated.
5. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake 18 to 20 minutes.
6. Cool and cut brownies into 16 squares.
4. Vintage Painted Mason Jar Vase for Mom - Project by Kelly Rowe
Craft-queen Kelly Rowe, of Live, Laugh, Rowe, talked us through a great way to turn plain mason jars into a beautiful gift for Mother's Day: Vintage Vases! She said to paint the exterior of a 16-ounce or 32-ounce mason jar with 2 coats acrylic paint (available at any craft store). Let it dry completely, then gently rub the raised writing on the mason jar with a nail file. This will remove some paint, giving the jar a weathered/vintagey feel. Fill it with flowers before gifting to mom or wrap on its own. The result is stunning: It looks like a vase you'd buy at a fancy boutique but it's super easy and costs almost nothing to pull together!
5. Mason Jar Icebox Cakes: Classic, Rum-Raisin, Salted Caramel and Lemon-Raspberry
Next, it was my turn! I transformed my favorite retro dessert—icebox cake!—into 4 mason jar treats (individually portioned for presentation and/or transportation). Icebox cake is a fabulous no-cook dessert for spring and summer entertaining: Layers of whipped cream and crispy cookies are stacked in a container and refrigerated overnight. The cookies absorb some of the whipped cream mixture and soften into a cake-like consistency—it's pure magic! Master the basic recipe, then let you imagination run wild: Stir your favorite mix-ins into the whipped cream (I'll give you a few suggestions below) and swap in any cookie you'd like—just stick with something crispy, soft cookies will breakdown too much. Here's how you do it...
2 cups cold heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted mix-ins (optionals)
About 2 dozen crispy cookies
1. Beat the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment 2 minutes or until stiff peaks just form. Stir in a mix-in, if using.
2. Layer cookies and whipped cream mixture into 4 mason jars, starting with cookies and ending with cream. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. Serve cold.
- CLASSIC ICEBOX CAKE: Make the basic whipped cream mixture (above) and layer with Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies.
- RUM-RAISIN: Make the basic whipped cream mixture (above); stir in 1 tablespoon rum. Layer with crispy oatmeal raisin cookies.
- SALTED CARAMEL: Make the basic whipped cream mixture (above); stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons dulce de lech. Layer with crispy chocolate chip cookies; sprinkle flaky sea salt between each layer.
- LEMON-RASPBERRY: Make the basic whipped cream mixture (above); stir in 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel. Layer with lemon shortbread cookies and fresh raspberries.
6. DIY Colored Mason Jars - Project by Leah Bergman
Last but certainly the most glamorous, Leah Bergman—founder of the blog Freutcake—demoed how to make DIY colored mason jars using glossy Mod Podge, regular food coloring and water, that's it! Head over to Leah's fabulous blog for the step-by-step instructions. Here's the link. Can you even believe these were dyed at home? They look so professional! As Leah said, they're perfect for an outdoor dinner party or a rustic wedding (you can customize them to your color-scheme)!
Well, that wraps up our 3rd Google+ Hangout video. Hope to see you next time! Thank you to Melissa, Kelly and Leah for sharing your brilliant ideas—you gals rocks!
[ Chocolate pudding photo by Melissa Coleman of The Faux Martha / Colored Mason Jar photo by Leah Bergman of Freutcake]


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via press release:
Polls Open Friday July 8 and Close Wednesday July 13 at NoonET
Winning Decision to Air Tuesday, July 19 and Continue Through Third Season
NEW YORK – July 7, 2011 – Change is hard. Just ask Neal Caffrey. Following an enormous outpouring of feedback from fans and viewers when a new WHITE COLLAR main title sequence debuted during season three, USA Network and the series producers have created a poll to give viewers the opportunity to vote on whether to keep the new sequence or revert back to the previous version.
Through the network's secondary screen platform Character Chatter (www.characterchatter.com), fans can view video of both sequences and register their vote starting Friday, July 8, through Wednesday, July 13 at noonET. The winning decision will air in the Tuesday, July 19 episode of WHITE COLLAR and remain the main title sequence for the entire third season.
"Where would Neal Caffrey be without a second chance? Our new main title sequence has been hotly debated with opinions covering a broad spectrum," said series creator and executive producer Jeff Eastin. "We respect the opinions of our fans and we couldn't think of a better way to reward their dedication than empowering them with this decision."
"Our Characters Welcome brand philosophy is predicated on the inclusion of everyone – especially our audience," said Alexandra Shapiro, senior vice president brand marketing and digital for USA. "So when debate ensued among our core WHITE COLLAR fans we decided crowdsourcing was an optimal way to involve our fans in determining the main title sequence's fate."
USA will message about the poll to fans through the network's Character Chatter platform, which harnesses and amplifies the social buzz around the series by funneling in real-time a feed of text, images, and video from all social streams including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. The network will feature on-air snipes about the poll in the Tuesday, July 12 episode, and well as information on the WHITE COLLAR website, and call-outs on social outlets including Facebook and Twitter.
Currently in its third season, WHITE COLLAR focuses on the unlikely partnership between con artist Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay). Caffrey's expertise helps Burke catch other elusive criminals, proving that in order to solve the hardest crimes, you must hire the smartest criminal. But this season we're not sure whose side Caffrey is really on. The series also stars Tiffani Thiessen, Willie Garson, Marsha Thomason, Hilarie Burton and Sharif Atkins. Upcoming guest stars include Diahann Carroll, Lena Headey, Eliza Dushku, Brady Smith and Beau Bridges, who is featured in the mid-season finale on Tuesday, August 9. Joe Manganiello will guest star on an episode when the series returns for its second half of season three in January.
WHITE COLLAR was created by and is executive produced by Jeff Eastin and comes from Fox Television Studios. Jeff King and Mark Goffman are co-executive producers. The show is shot entirely in and around New York City.
URL for all linked messaging:
To view the original series open, please visit:
To view the new series open, please visit:
USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. A division of NBCUniversal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.
USA Network is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.


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Qualcomm faces China antitrust probe
China has launched an antitrust probe against one of the world's biggest chipmakers, the US firm Qualcomm.
Qualcomm said the probe involved China's anti-monopoly law, but added that regulators told it the "substance of the investigation is confidential".
The firm said that it was "not aware or any charge" by the regulators that it had broken the law.
China has increased scrutiny of business practices that lead to higher prices for consumers.
In August, Chinese regulators levied a record fine of 670m yuan ($109m; £71m) on six foreign producers of baby milk formula for price-fixing.
China's National Development and Reform Commission, the body which is probing Qualcomm, also launched a pricing investigation into the pharmaceutical industry earlier this year.
4G launch
The investigation against Qualcomm also comes at a time when China is gearing for the launch of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) Networks.
The country will start commercial 4G mobile communications services on 18 December.
China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile operator with over 700 million users, will be the first one to offer the services to its subscribers.
That will be followed by China Unicom and China Telecom, the country's other two major carriers.
The US firm is a key player in the area and some analysts suggested the probe against it may be an attempt to help domestic players in China.
"We suspect this investigation is related to the forthcoming launch of TD-LTE by China Mobile... and the negotiations on chip pricing and license pricing between Qualcomm and Chinese-based handset [manufacturers] that are likely occurring right now," said Travis McCourt an analyst with Raymond James & Associates.
Cody Acree, an analyst with Williams Financial, added: "You're getting ready to have this battle over 4G royalties and now you have this antitrust investigation".
"It may well be that this reform commission is beginning to throw up reasons and excuses for why China doesn't pay royalties on 4G."


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JessiAkers video.Free chat with JessiAkers
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Im a black girl who really love being sexy. I am a polite girl but when I start felling my hot body I have a change. Come here and look how I transform in a naughty girl who wont leave your mind in peace. Think about me all time.


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Item #: 13085-PC
Retail Price: $19.99
Our Price: $14.39
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Please Confirm you are not a bot
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Telegraph & Texas Register (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, February 18, 1853
Description: Weekly newspaper from Houston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with some advertising.
Date: February 18, 1853
Creator: Moore, Francis, Jr.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
Partner: The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History


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If you could reverse gravity, to make it repulsive instead of attractive, what velocity would you achieve on leaving Earth? A simple question really, but I have completely forgot how to calculate this sort of thing.
Also after leaving Earth, if you could reverse the Sun's gravity (on yourself) what velocity could you achieve leaving the solar system?


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What size radiators do I need?1
To heat your room effectively you will need to use a radiator, or combination of radiators, that provides a total wattage high enough to heat your room. You can calculate the wattage required to heat your size room using our interactive radiator calculator. If you are planning to use your free standing electric radiator to supplement an additional heating system, you should first subtract the wattage of your existing heating system from the required total. If your required wattage is on the borderline between two sizes of radiator, always choose the radiator with the higher wattage; under-specifying your heating will leave your rooms chilly and force your radiators to work less efficiently.
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Yes. To use your free standing electric radiators, all you have to do is clip or slot the feet onto the base of the radiator. Then the radiators simply plug into the nearest available socket.
Most of our electric radiators will need to be purchased with optional feet if you want to use them freestanding. If you purchase your feet at the same time as purchasing radiators, the feet will be delivered at no extra cost inside the packaging of your radiators. Feet purchased separately may carry additional delivery charges.
Can free standing electric radiators be wall mounted?1
All of our free standing electric radiators can also be wall mounted. This is a useful facility even if you're planning to fit your radiators free-standing. If you find you are happy with your radiators and want to switch to a more permanent fitting, you can wall mount your free standing radiators at any point in their lifetime. You will be provided with all the fixtures, fittings and instructions for wall mounting when you purchase your radiators; we recommend keeping these in a safe place in case you decide to wall mount your plug in radiators at a later date. Wall mounting electric radiators is an easy DIY task: all you have to do is screw the radiators to the wall and plug them into the nearest socket.
How heavy are your free standing electric radiators?1
If you are choosing free standing electric radiators because you want to be able to move and reposition your radiators, you should make sure you purchase radiators which are light enough to move easily.
Our lightest plug in radiators are those which use dry thermal aluminium elements. Our best-selling Haverland RC Wave is available from only 5kg, whilst the Haverland SmartWave, which features innovative self-learning controls, is available from 4.5kg.
Electric radiators for larger rooms often use thermal fluid or dry stone heating elements. These are typically somewhat heavier than radiators which use aluminium elements. As a guideline, our smallest Electrorad Aero Flow radiator, which uses fireclay heating plates, weighs 17kg.
If you are purchasing a free standing radiator as a top-up heater, or a sole source of heat for a room you use less often, you may want to consider using an electric panel heater radiator. These radiators heat by convection alone, which makes them less efficient but also less heavy and cheaper to produce. The Ecostrad Eco, our highly controllable electric panel radiator, is available from just 5.4kg.
We also stock a range of cheap portable oil-filled electric radiators that come with castor wheels. These portable electric radiators use heat retentive thermal oil for improved heat retention. Our lightest portable oil filled radiator, the 1500w Osily OSOFR15, weighs 7.3kg and can be wheeled around the home with ease.
Can your portable electric radiators be used outside?1
Our free standing electric radiators are not designed to be used outside. They are not protected against the elements and they will not warm you effectively because the air they warm will diffuse away to cooler spaces.
Can I use my free standing electric radiator in a bathroom?1
No. You should not use plug-in electric heaters of any kind in your bathroom. Electric appliances for bathroom use, such as towel rails, must be hardwired into the wall by a professional electrician.
As a rule, we do not recommend electric radiators or panel heaters for bathroom installation. This is because there is the temptation to hang towels over the appliance to dry, which can obstruct ventilation on the heater and cause a hazard. In most bathrooms, an electric towel rail will offer a more practical solution.
Freestanding Electric Radiators
Most of our electric radiators can be mounted on feet or casters to provide a free-standing fitting. Freestanding electric radiators can be useful in rental properties, conservatories, caravans, and spare bedrooms. With lightweight radiators from only 5kg, plug in radiators make an excellent portable heating solution. We also stock portable oil-filled electric radiators that provide improved heat retention and distribution – an ideal choice for occasional heating. All of our free standing electric radiators, except our range of portable oil-filled electric radiators, can also be wall mounted, so you always have the option of switching to a more permanent fitting.


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Photographs of Icyy Ink Screen Printing, which can be found in Warren County.
Icyy Ink Screen Printing offers high-quality screen printing and creative designs using eco-friendly materials.
"We offer water-based inks for pretty much any material, including paper!" explained owner Michelle Munksgard. The water-based inks use eco-friendly cleaners, some that only require water, she said.
The company also utilizes recycled fabrics for printed apparel.
In addition to screen printing, Icyy Ink provides embroidery, graphic design and photography, and web design services.
Icyy Ink operations take place out of a building Munksgard recently bought.
In the main floor of the building are the machines for screen-printing and embroidery, as well as the computer workstations.
A former restaurant/motel facility, Munksgard is transforming the workspace in the midst of using it.
She is also passionate about working with organizations and others in her community, promoting fundraisers and mentoring other artisans, including John Pearson, another artisan featured in the Creative Makers of the Pennsylvania Wilds Exhibit.
These images were captured by Karen Heltzel as part of the 2018 Creative Makers Exhibit, a traveling showcase of creative makers working in the PA Wilds.
More about the show here. Proceeds from the sales of the Creative Makers Exhibit photographic tiles & posters will go back into the work of the Wilds Cooperative and the extension of this project as we will continue photographing the creative makers living and working in the PA Wilds.
Each tile measures 8 in x 8 in and is mounted on foam core that is approximately 3/4 in thick and comes with adhesive attached for wall mounting.
Please note: Orders for photographic tiles are placed in a batch at the end of each month with the vendor, and then take an additional 2 weeks for delivery. Please be prepared that your order could take 4-6 weeks for delivery.
Over 10 years ago, a groundbreaking effort began to brand a quarter of the Commonwealth as the "Pennsylvania Wilds" and invest in it to create a premier nature, heritage and cultural destination that would fuel local economies and inspire stewardship among the people who live, work, play and visit the region. Engaging the region's artists and craftspeople in the work is key to building a meaningful regional brand and infusing pride into economically-distressed communities. The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania, our membership program that supports artisans and entrepreneurs through such regional branding, was born out of this belief. Today, nearly 200 local artists and craftspeople participate in this juried arts and business development program. "Creative Makers" reflects the splendor and uniqueness of the Pennsylvania Wilds landscape and rural lifestyle, and the resourcefulness and talent of the artists who live and work here. PA Wilds Juried photographers captured the images, and our goal with the exhibit is to help tell the story of the creative individuals living and working in the PA Wilds.
This project is made possible through grants from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts.
The PA Wilds is home to an impressive and diverse community of skilled artisans, craftspeople, and producers working across a variety of media. The PA Wilds Conservation Shop is proud to source and curate our shop using products made the many talented makers of The Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania.
Learn more about our sourcing now.
PA Wilds Conservation Shops are owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. To learn more about our nonprofit mission please visit pawildscenter.org.


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I was sick yesterday. I spent much of the day alternating between watching Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight and reading No Easy Day, the book written by one of the Navy Seals who killed Bin Laden. In between I took a long nap to try to fight off the sinus infection. And images of evil.
Back when we started The Good Men Project we debated long and hard about the title. We were clear on the fact that goodness was not a destination but an aspiration. Our goal was to foster a conversation, not to preach to anyone.
One thing we never discussed directly, and haven't often broached, is the nature of male evil. We have certainly talked about rape and bigotry and even suicide. But we've tried to find tales of redemption for the worst of the worst, never considering whether in fact in some cases there is no coming back from the dark side.
The quote that stays with me from the film is Alfred telling Batman, "Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
I was brought up to see moral ambiguity where others might see sharp lines between good and evil. My parents were protestors against the Vietnam War, against institutionalized racism, against the system. So when guys are sent into a foreign land to liberate and free a people, my antenna goes up.
Who is good and who is evil in this scenario?
I took a break from the tales of heroism and machismo in No Easy Day to read a New Yorker article by Dexter Filkins entitled, "Atonement." Lu Lobello is a decorated soldier who fought during initial invasion of Iraq. He fired into what turned out to be a civilian car early on in the initial firefight during battle for Baghdad. His shots killed a father and two sons, innocents, while the rest of the family watched.
The story was about the guilt Lu suffered over this event. He suffered profound post-traumatic stress. Ultimately he knew that he had to make amends. He tracked down the mother and sister of the dead, ultimately finding them on Facebook. He sent them a video message. And then arranged to meet them in person to apologize and seek some relief from his agony.
As movingly human as the story was, it didn't help me answer any of my questions about the nature of good and evil. In a sense both the Iraqi family and Lobello were victims of larger forces that they couldn't control. Forces that were not good, that is for sure. By naming the situation that trapped them both, the shooter and the family of the deceased, at least they could sooth each other's pain in some small way.
I suppose my own instinct is to shy away from any pronouncement of ultimate evil even more than I am leery of trying to define male goodness too closely. Hitler was evil. Mass murders are evil. Sexual predators who molest children are evil. But those are realities that I have a very hard time taking into my soul and considering in any real way. It's too painful and scary.
One of the places this argument becomes most apparent is around the death penalty. One could certainly argue that life without parole is a worse fate than death. And, as ATUL GAWANDE wrote in his piece "Hellhole", solitary confinement is a form of torture that crushes the soul.
But I just cannot wrap my head around state sponsored killing of even the most despicable prisoner. Maybe that makes me weak or unmanly or incapable of understanding the nature of evil. I don't know. But it speaks to the moral complexity that I cannot reduce to a simple equation resulting in the death of another man or woman.
This goes for war as well. I am far from an expert on the Middle East. I do not understand what is going on in the various conflicts in Africa. I could not decipher the situation in Korea. I read a little then I get overcome with facts and figures, sects and religious tribes. I know the world is a scary place, and getting scary by the moment. But I have no way to unravel the cause and effect of American involvement.
Perhaps it is my Quaker pacifist parents, but I have found President Obama disappointing when it comes to how we think about United States interests overseas. I may have completely misunderstood what he said during the run up to his win in the last election, but I thought he was in favor of a moderated approach to exerting our military power. If anything, it seems, in the war in Afghanistan, in the use of drones and Special Forces, and the maniacal focus on getting Bin Laden, President Obama has ratcheted up the bloodshed in the name of American-style freedom.
It seems to me that when a more peace-minded candidate takes the Oval Office, the very first security briefing changes everything. The face of evil shows itself with such clarity and danger, that any thought to pursue a course that doesn't involve killing people goes completely out the window.
I've never fought in a war and I've never taken the oath as President, so I can't say what either is really like. But it saddens me to think that the threat of evil has to so overshadow the belief in potential goodness.
My 16 year-old son has his heart set on going to West Point. He wants to serve our country. He is an amazing kid who has already travelled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to help orphans and those who have literally nothing.
I have just tried to make sure he really understands the magnitude of the decision to serve in the United States military. He does. He knows more about the reality of it than I do, by a lot. Which is all I can ask.
It still scares the shit out of me. I think of the body bags and Lu Lobello, not just the Navy Seal who wrote No Easy Day. I know my boy is perhaps the purest representation of goodness I can fathom. And yet I don't want him in harm's way.
I keep coming back to the question of men who just want to watch the world burn.
Part of what made watching the Dark Knight so painful for me was knowing that Heath Ledger died of a drug overdose before the film was even released. It was almost as if going into the nature of evil so deeply and completely was intolerable to his make-up. It literally killed him. Or at least that is my fantasy about it, never having met the man.
There is a way in which every discussion of morality ultimately becomes very personal: where have I been good and where have I done wrong verging on evil?
The nightmare is a good man who finds himself doing evil, like Lu Lobello. But my experience is that I can relate to Lobello more than I would like to admit, even if I haven't killed anyone. And I don't think I am alone.
I've also been haunted recently by the powerful letter of a brilliant young man who could not carry the burden his life as the survivor of abuse. His words are so rational, understandable even, as he steps off a bridge to his demise—an act of ultimate insanity and gut-wrenching sadness for all involved.
How can that possibly happen? A good kid getting to the point where his only option is death at his own hand.
I am quite sure there is male evil in this world. I just have no idea what to do about it but look avert my eyes and focus on the goodness in hopes that it will overcome the darkness. Maybe that is weak, and unmanly, of me to do. But it's the only way I know how to handle the moral ambiguity of day-to-day life.
Perhaps the question of male morality ultimately comes down to an issue of faith. I am not a religious man by any stretch. But I do believe in a loving God. I believe in the story of Jesus, not literally, but as a metaphor for what it means to suffer in the name of righteousness and the need for each and every one of us to be forgiven for our sins.
I'm not a religious scholar either, but it seems to me that the world's religions share this concept of Karma, of a life force that is good, of a human fallibility that is to be perfected over time and with humility and atonement.
I suppose its with that in mind that I prefer to keep my eyes focused on the light rather than the darkness, despite that fact that sometimes it requires a steadfastness of spirit to see goodness when your son is going off to war, or a brilliant kid jumps off a bridge, or genocide is a reality.
image by the author


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Ju Ming (朱銘) returns to Kalos Gallery with Citizen (市民), a series of 80 human-scale wood sculptures that form part of the Living World Series (人間木雕系列), a long-term art project begun in 1981 that has as its focus the people and society of Taiwan. The exhibition portrays ordinary city dwellers from all walks of life. The unpainted and rough-textured sculptures express the diversity of humanity and, in their majestic grandeur, suggest the extraordinary aspects of ordinary people in everyday life.
■ Kalos Gallery (真善美畫廊), 269, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段269號). Open daily from 10am to 6:30pm, closed Sundays. Tel: (02) 2836-3452
■ Until Feb. 8
Orientations (方向) showcases new and old paintings by Jorinde Jankowski (張友鷦), whose canvases vary in subject matter and style. In her vaguely monochromatic cityscapes, she depicts the isolation and fragmentation of urban life, delineating an all too common alienation as a symbol for human longing. In other paintings, she employs a vibrant palette of color and cartoon-like, personified animal figures to mock human flaws, while in other canvases she becomes more introspective and investigates the meaning of home, family and belonging with fairytale-like images that possess dark undertones.
■ Art Den (藝研齋), 3F, 309, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段309號3樓), tel: (02) 2325-8188. Open Mondays to Fridays from 11am to 5pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 6pm
■ Until Jan. 19
Contemporary Chinese artist, Shi Jinsong (史金淞), works in sculpture, painting, and on-site experiential performance, and uses non-traditional easel-painting forms to express his concern for the transitory nature of life and its objects. With Scenes from an Unpredictable Theatre, Shi uses theatrical elements as the artistic medium for his new exhibition, which is in two parts. The first involved Shi traveling throughout Taiwan over the past few months, collecting everyday objects and returning them to the gallery, where an invited audience was encouraged to smash them using a variety of hammers. The artist will, over the coming weeks, use the detritus — what he dubs "a script" — to form an installation, which he calls "a play," which will be on view in the gallery until May.
■ MOT Arts, 3F, 22, Fuxing S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市復興南路一段22號3樓), tel: (02) 2751-8088. Open daily from 11:30am to 8pm
■ Until May 26
Experimental sound installations and live performances make up a solo exhibition by Chang Yung-ta (感知‧交界). Entitled Seen/Unseen (張永達), Chang transforms invisible signals and data — radiation from a nuclear power plant, for example — into sound waves, which serve as the primary objects of his installations. The two pieces present the conversion of visible things to invisible sounds, or the conversion of something visual into something auditory, which is meant to convey a looming yet silent message.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), Taipei National University of the Arts (台北藝術大學), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm. Tel: (02) 2896-1000 X2432
■ Until Feb. 24
Huang Pei-ju (黃珮如) continues her exploration of light and darkness as a metaphor of liminality with Reduced to Light (躲進光裡面). Huang uses pen to create various wash effects on the canvas, which are meant to suggest a visible contour to light.
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 2F-3F, 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號2-3樓). Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm. Tel: (02) 2507-7243
■ Until Jan. 26


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NSSE Annual Results 2008
Promoting Engagement for All Students: The Imperative to Look Within—2008 Results
Exclusive Focus on Average Scores Misses the Mark when Comparing Colleges and Universities, Survey Finds
Findings from a national survey shows that the quality of undergraduate education varies far more within colleges and universities than between them. As a result, rankings can be highly misleading predictors of educational quality. Analyses of key "Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice" reveal that in almost every case, more than 90 percent of the variation in undergraduate education quality occurs within institutions, not between them. A related conclusion is that even institutions with high benchmark scores have an appreciable share of students whose undergraduate experience is average at best. Read more »
Table of Contents
Foreword Director's Message Quick Facts Selected Results Looking Within Promoting Success in the First Year FSSE and BCSSE Writing Matters Using NSSE Data NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice Looking Ahead References and Resources Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice Participating Colleges and Universities: 2000–2008 NSSE Staff
Press Release Annual Results 2008 (PDF) Past Annual Results Order Copies


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Young Truckee runners compete at Junior Nationals
Special to the Sun
Four students from Truckee's Alder Creek Middle School traveled to New Mexico on Dec. 8 to compete in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Cross Country Running Championships.
The four young athletes, Claire Lang-Ree, Carrie Bradley, Jordy Guldman and Dylan Thomas, reached the National Championship races based on their times in divisional and sectional qualifying races in November in Folsom.
Truckee High track coach Diana Yale helped the racers with vital training sessions and race strategy tips during their post season advancement. They joined 3,000 other runners from all 50 states in 3-kilometer and 4-kilometer races at Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque.


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The U.S. Embassy in the Central African Republic was shut down Friday after the U.S. ambassador and about 40 others fled as rebels advanced toward the capital.
The embassy shutdown, which the State Department described as temporary, was "a result of the deteriorating security situation" in the landlocked Central African country of 4.4 million, the department said in a statement.
The department said the shutdown did not mean Washington had suspended diplomatic relations with the CAR, bordered by Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon.
"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all travel to the Central African Republic," the department said. "U.S. citizens who have decided to stay in CAR should review their personal security situation and seriously consider departing, taking advantage of commercial flights."
U.S. officials told CBS News U.S. Ambassador Laurence D. Wohlers and some 40 others flew out of the capital, Bangui, on a U.S. Air Force C-40 Clipper for Kenya.
A C-40 is a military version of the Boeing 737.
Rebel forces calling themselves the Seleka Coalition captured many towns in the impoverished country's central and eastern regions in the past 18 days and were now advancing toward Bangui and were less than 180 miles away, several news organizations reported.
Residents in the capital of 600,000 people feared the insurgents -- trying to remove President Francois Bozize, a military officer who seized power in 2003 -- could attack very soon, CBS News reported.
The rebels accuse Bozize, who has twice been elected president after seizing power, of failing to live up to the terms of peace agreements signed since 2007.
Bozize appealed to the international community for help Thursday, especially France, which ruled the country until 1960.
His appeal came as protesters threw stones and tore down the French flag at the French Embassy, demanding the former colonial power do more to stop the rebels.
French President Francois Hollande rejected the appeal, saying France's 250 soldiers near Bangui were part of a multinational peacekeeping force and would protect the more than 1,200 French nationals in the country but would not defend Bozize's regime.
The era of French intervention in the internal affairs of its former colonies "is over," Hollande told reporters.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman nonetheless condemned "the continued hostility by the rebel groups" and said the crisis should be resolved through dialogue.
The United Nations also pulled non-essential staff out of the country, the world body said.
The U.N. Security Council issued a statement late Thursday reiterating its concern about the crisis and condemning the attacks.
Washington, to which Bozize also appealed for help, expressed "deep concern" about the rebel attacks but had no immediate public response to the appeal for help.


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Alan Pradip Jasanoff
Associate Member, McGovern Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Engineering
Associate Member, McGovern Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Engineering
Alan Jasanoff is an associate member of the McGovern Institute and Associate Professor of Biological Engineering, with appointments in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Nuclear Science and Engineering. Prior to joining the MIT faculty in 2004, he was a Whitehead Fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revolutionized our understanding of the human brain, but the method is now approaching the limit of its capabilities. Alan Jasanoff hopes to break through this limit and to develop new technologies for imaging the molecular and cellular phenomena that underlie brain function.
Functional MRI takes advantage of the fact that when a particular brain region becomes more active it consumes more oxygen, and blood flow increases to that region increases to compensate. These changes can be detected during a brain scan because the blood protein hemoglobin changes its magnetic properties when it is depleted of oxygen.
Although fMRI has yielded much valuable information, it suffers from two fundamental limitations. First, changes in the blood are slow relative to the speed of neural activity, making it impossible to measure rapid brain events. Second, the source of the activity can only be localized to the nearest blood vessel. It is not precise enough to provide detailed information about activity in specific neurons and circuits.
Jasanoff is working to overcome these limitations. He is devising new contrast agents whose magnetic properties are altered by events in the neurons themselves, rather than their surrounding blood vessels. If successful, such an approach could reveal an unprecedented level of information about brain activity as it unfolds in real time.
When neurons become active, they rapidly take up calcium from their environment. Jasanoff hopes to visualize these rapid changes using magnetic nanoparticles that are coupled to a calcium-binding protein. In collaboration with colleagues at the MIT chemistry department, he is also developing a new class of molecules that can be engineered to accumulate inside cells and to reveal changes in the intracellular chemical environment.
Another one of Jasanoff's approaches is to develop indicator molecules that can be genetically encoded and targeted to specific cell types. Jasanoff is developing an indicator for dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is depleted in Parkinson's disease. Many psychiatric drugs and substances of abuse target dopamine receptors in the brain. So the ability to detect changes in dopamine in living animals would have many applications for the study of brain disorders. Eventually, Jasanoff hopes it may be possible to adapt the approach for use in human subjects, thereby providing a powerful new tool for clinical research and drug development.


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The Ed Show for Friday, September 21st, 2012
Read the transcript to the Friday show
THE ED SHOW with ED SCHULTZ
September 21, 2012
Guests: Ted Strickland; Ari Melber, Bernie Sanders
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good Evening Americans and welcome to "the Ed
Show" live from Minneapolis.
Forty-six days until the 2012 election, Mitt Romney`s week from hell
just ended with a bang. Tonight, the Republican candidate`s newest tax
returns is leaving more questions than answers. Romney also tells "60
Minutes" his campaign doesn`t need a turn around. This is "the Ed Show."
Let`s get to work.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe he
genuinely believes that nearly half this country is made up of people who
see themselves as victims.
SCHULTZ: The Obama team release the Biden. Mitt Romney released his
taxes. It turns out he has already disqualified himself from being
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don`t pay more than are
legally due and, frankly, if I had paid more than are legally due, I don`t
think I`d be qualified to become president.
SCHULTZ: Tonight the epic campaign day that ended an epic campaign
week with former Ohio governor Ted Strickland and "the nation`s" Ari
Melber. A full analysis of Romney`s sketchy tax return with David Cay
Johnston. Senator Bernie Sanders joins me to review Paul Ryan`s attempt to
fool seniors at the AARP convention.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first step is to
repeal Obama care because it represents the worst of both worlds.
SCHULTZ: And Tom Akin is forced to answer for his illegitimate rape
remarks for the first time in the debate with Claire McCaskill.
CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), STATE SENATOR, MISSOURI: He has apologized for
those comments. But, they say a lot about how he views thing.
SCHULTZ: Good to you have with us tonight, folks. Thanks for
The dynamics of the presidential race changed this week and there`s no
turning back. For the next 46 days the two candidates will be dealing with
the fallout of the reaction of what happened this week.
Regardless of the outcome on November 6th, this week was a game
changer. The hidden video recording of Mitt Romney at a top dollar fund-
raising in Florida underscores the major differences between the two
candidates and the philosophies they bring to the presidency.
Mitt Romney stood by his comments about the 47 percent of Americans
being dependent on government. Well today, President Obama threw his
biggest punches yet at Mitt Romney over these comments. The president told
a Virginia crowd what it would mean for them if Mitt Romney were elected
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don`t believe we can
get very far with leaders who write off half the nation as a bunch of
victims. Who think that they are not interested in taking responsibility
for their own lives. I don`t see a lot of victims in this crowd today. I
see hard working Virginians.
SCHULTZ: The president made sure to emphasize hard work. It`s a
contrast to comments from the Romney video, where the candidate claimed the
economy will suddenly improve if he is elected president without Romney
lifting a finger.
ROMNEY: If we win on November of 6th, there will be a great deal of
optimism about the future of this country. And we`ll see capital cop back
and without actually doing anything, we may get a boost in the economy.
SCHULTZ: A lot has been made about the people who are in the 47
percent of Americans Mitt Romney was talking about. President Obama
painted a picture of exactly who those 47 percent are.
OBAMA: Some of you may be students trying to work your way through
college. Some of you may be single moms like my mom, putting in overtime
to see if you can provide a better life for your kids. Some of you may be
senior citizens who have been saving your whole life for your retirement.
Some of you may be veterans who served this country bravely, soldiers who
defend our freedom today.
SCHULTZ: Vice president Joe Biden kept quiet after the Romney video
was released. This week the words -- he said the words speak for
themselves. But today, Biden let the Romney campaign have it during a
campaign stop in New Hampshire.
BIDEN: Believe they are entitled, that they have become dependent,
they see themselves as victims who won`t take responsibility for their own
lives. How could he be so profoundly wrong about America? How is that
possible? Not in my neighborhood. Not where I grew up. Not the people I
SCHULTZ: The vice president`s a good attack dog for the Obama
campaign. But Joe Biden knows the strongest messages come from the heart.
He spoke softly when talking about what the Romney camp doesn`t get when it
comes to government.
BIDEN: As my dad would say, I don`t expect the government to solve my
problems, but at least expect them to understand my problems. At least
understand them.
SCHULTZ: Even Bill Clinton is getting back into the mix. The former
president was called the secretary of explaining stuff by President Obama
and Clinton was back on television explaining why Romney`s math doesn`t
work for Americans.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I come to you
and I say we have this terrible national debt and here`s my opening gambit,
first I`m going to increase it by $5 trillion over a decade by doing
another round of tax cuts that mostly benefited the people we benefited in
the last decade, even though it didn`t produce jobs.
Now we are in a really deep hole, much bigger than this clock I just
showed you. Now, let me tell you how we`re going to get out it have. What
about the details? See me about that after the election.
SCHULTZ: The 47 percent comments gave the Obama campaign and all
across the country plenty of ammunition for the remainder of the election
season. The Romney camp scrambled to find something else they could use
against the president in the same way. Yesterday, they jumped on a comment
President Obama made during his town hall forum on Univision.
OBAMA: I`ve learned some lessons over the last four years and the
most important lesson I`ve learned is you can`t change Washington from the
inside. You can only change it from the outside. That`s how I got elected
and that`s how the big accomplishments like health care got done was
because we mobilized the American people to speak out.
SCHULTZ: This message of civic engagement is one the president makes
quite often. You know, he centered a lot part of his convention speech
around it, I think.
OBAMA: At citizens we understand that America`s not about what can be
done for us. It`s about what can be done by us.
SCHULTZ: A lot of people agree with President Obama on this,
including Mitt Romney. While campaigning in 2007 Romney told reporters "I
don`t think you can change Washington from the inside. I think you change
it from the outside." But this didn`t stop Mitt Romney from trying to drum
up controversy over the president`s words.
ROMNEY: The president today threw in the white flag of surrender
again. He said he can`t change Washington from the inside, he can only
change it from outside. Well, we`re going to give him that chance in
November. He`s going outside.
SCHULTZ: This is another situation where the differences between the
two candidates are being defined right before our eyes in the news cycle
day after day. Mitt Romney thinks people will reject a president who says
you need American citizens to change Washington from the inside, from the
outside? President Obama has no problem embracing this message and he said
so today.
OBAMA: Now, for some reason my opponent got really excited. He
rewrote his speech real quick. He stood up at a rally, proudly declared
I`ll get the job done from the inside. What kind of inside job is he
talking about? We don`t want an inside job in Washington. We want change
in Washington. And from the day we began this campaign, we`ve always said
that change takes more than one term or even one president and it certainly
takes more than one party. It can`t happen if you write off half the
nation before you even took office.
SCHULTZ: Romney`s change argument was a flop. So the candidate was
in need of something else to turn attention away from his 47 percent
comments, which has been in the news cycle all week long.
Well, surprise, surprise, how about it, today the Romney campaign made
the candidate`s 2011 tax returns public. The numbers revealed Mitt Romney
made nearly $14 million mostly in investments. The Romneys paid $1.9
million in taxes, a rate of 14.1 percent. Romney gave $4 million in
charity last year, but only claimed about $2 million in charitable
deductions. If he claimed the full $4 million, Romney`s tax rate would
have been much lower. Mitt Romney actually paid more taxes than he needed
to, which really is at odds of the philosophy of a certain Republican
ROMNEY: My view is I have paid all the taxes required by law. I
don`t pay more than are legally due. And frankly, if I had paid more than
you are legally due, I don`t think I`d be qualified to become president. I
think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code
SCHULTZ: Now wait a minute. Someone who pays more taxes than
necessary is not qualified to be president. Did he really say that?
ROMNEY: I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a
dollar more. I don`t think you want someone as the candidate for president
who pays more taxes than he owes.
SCHULTZ: Oh, yes, he said it. Many conservative Republicans are in
agreement with Mitt Romney. But they are not convinced he`s qualified
Columnist Peggy Noonan continued her assault on the Romney campaign in
"the Wall Street Journal." This week, I called it incompetent but only
because I was being polite. I really meant rolling calamity. "The
Washington Post" reported on senior Republicans on Capitol Hill who have
become convinced about a likely Obama victory and the possibility of
striking a deal on tax increases for the rich. Romney can`t even hold on
to the confidence of Herman Cain, the former pizza man CEO says that he
would have a substantial lead on President Obama at this point.
According to Herman Cain, the reason is quite simple "I have some
death to my ideas." Hold it, 9-9-9 isn`t too deep. But that`s a real ouch
for the Romney campaign. Romney is not throwing in the towel. He is not
giving up. In an interview with "60 minutes," maybe he`s in denial, Romney
says things are going just fine.
ROMNEY: Actually, we tied in the polls. We are all with (INAUDIBLE)
of air. We bounce around, week to week, day to day. There are some days
we`re up, there are some days we`re down. We go forward with my message
that this is a time to reinvigorate the American economy, not by expanding
government and raising taxes on people, but instead by making sure
government encourages entrepreneurship and innovation and gets the private
sector hiring again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Governor, I appreciate your message very
much. But that wasn`t precisely the question. You`re the CEO of this
campaign. A lot of Republicans would like to know, a lot of donors would
like to know how do you turn this thing around. You`ve got a little more
than six weeks. What do you do?
ROMNEY: Well, it doesn`t need a turn around. We have a campaign
which is tied with an incumbent president of the United States.
SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney could be right or he could be incredibly
disastrously wrong. Make no mistake, the 47 percent comment were a game
changer. It revealed an awful lot. There is no longer any doubt what the
two sides of this election believe. The comments allowed President Obama
to go out on a stamp of the message of inclusiveness. It is a message you
will hear a lot more about in the next 46 days.
OBAMA: The values we believe in just don`t belong to the workers or
businesses, the 53 percent, the 47 percent, rich or poor, the one percent
or 99 percent. These are American values. They belong to all of us!
SCHULTZ: Now, compare those comments with Mitt Romney`s final words
on the hidden video from Florida.
ROMNEY: One of the benefits is eating the world`s best dessert, which
I will. Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Romney may have eaten the world`s best dessert at that fund-
raiser but on the campaign trail the only thing he can find right now is
raw crow.
What`s is going to be like the next 46 days? How about this weekend?
How is he going to begin to turn it around?
The best thing he can do right now is call up Tom Cruise, the actor,
and ask him about that thing he put together, I think a couple of movies
called "Mission Impossible." That`s what it looks like right now for Mitt
Throughout this entire process he has been an adversary to labor. He
has been an adversary to wage earners. He has been an adversary to anybody
who is being covered in Obama care. There are more people that are
realizing every day that Mitt Romney has never had a plan, he`s never had a
vision and the only thing he`s had in his back pocket is the wealthiest
Americans. He`s not going to get it done. And if he does, it will be a
Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question: does Mitt Romney`s campaign need a turn around? Text A for yes,
text B for now to 622639. You can go to our web site and leave a comment
at ed.msnbc.com. We will bring you the results later on the show.
Coming up, we are starting to see the impact Mitt Romney`s mistakes
are having on the polls. Find out why it might be just too late for him to
turn this whole thing around when we come back.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, a look back at Mitt Romney`s rough week with Ari
Melber and former Ohio governor Ted Strickland who toured up at the
Later, the Obama campaign and senator Harry Reid is jumping all over
Mitt Romney for his taxes. David Cay Johnston is here to tell us if Romney
just made things worst.
And the Democrats keep surging in Senate races across the country.
Todd Akin got crushed by senator Claire McCaskill in a debate today. We`ll
show you the highlights.
Share your thoughts on facebook and on twitter using #edshow. We are
coming right back.
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to "the Ed Show." Thanks for watching.
This has not been a good week for Mitt Romney and he`s running out of
time. Let`s review just what has unfolded.
A video surfaced showing him insulting 47 percent of Americans. He
was widely criticized for accusing the president of the United States of
being a terrorist sympathizer on 9/11. His staff has been depicted as
disorganized. Today Romney`s tax return is under the microscope.
And this is what all of those problems look like when you add them up
together. The new national journal poll shows Romney`s at least seven
points behind, a poll of 12 swing states shows Romney is actually slipping.
He had a one poll - he had a one-point lead over President Obama last
Today the president`s lead, well, he moved five points ahead. But
wait. You might say there are still 46 days left until the election,
Romney`s got some time, right? Actually, the voting has already started.
Absentee ballots are going out in dozens of states.
For instance, in Iowa, election officials are getting a record number
of requests. Thirty percent more than in 2008. By tomorrow half the
country will be casting votes either by absentee ballot or early in-person
voting. By end of the month people in 30 states will be able to cast a
Mitt Romney`s problems might be costing him the election before
October even begins. Let`s bring in Ari Melber, correspondent for "the
Nation" magazine and former Ohio governor Ted Strickland and Obama 2012
campaign co-chair.
Gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight.
Governor, let`s start with you. How serious, how damaging, how bad a
week has this been for Mitt Romney? And then throw on the fact that on a
5:00 document dump on a Friday afternoon, put it all together.
TED STRICKLAND (D), FORMER OHIO GOVERNOR: It`s been a terrible week.
The president`s doing well in Ohio. We think we are seven points ahead
according to the polls. And I want to tell you, Ed, when he showed such
disrespect for 47 percent of the American people, we are talking about
seniors, we are talking about veterans, we are talking about soldiers, we
are talking about students and he looked down his nose at 47 percent of us
while he was talking to those fat cats down there in Florida. And I think
it has put a bad taste in the mouth of Americans who have heard this
videotape. And then these tax returns, Ed, he still is hiding the truth.
Why is he not releasing his tax returns? I think he has got something to
SCHULTZ: Ari, how do we know this is politically fatal?
ARI MELBER, CORRESPONDENT, THE NATION MAGAZINE: Well, we don`t know
yet. What we know is that it is hurting him. We know that he has the
lowest net favorable rating of any party candidate since 1988 when Pew has
been taking these numbers. So, that means even people like Bob Dole and
John McCain who lost were viewed more positively at this point than he is.
So, we know it`s taking a huge bite out of him. I think it goes to
the governor`s point. You saw this at the Democratic convention, both in
the governor`s speech and I think in Bill Clinton`s speech. Part of what`s
happening out here in this electors, is I think that facts are actually the
new spin. I think people care a lot about their livelihood, they care
about their jobs, this is an economic election. And people are looking at
the numbers. So, I will just give you a couple.
We have the 47 percent that you gave us and that Romney, obviously,
has seared into the public imagination, that`s all the people he`s
dismissed. Fifteen percent today is what middle class taxpayers have as a
total federal tax burden. Fourteen percent is what Mitt Romney paid, nine
percent is what he owed. You total it all up and what you have I think is
a one percent mentality. He doesn`t want to follow the rules that everyone
else does.
SCHULTZ: I mean, that is so politically fatal when it`s connected to
the middle class in this country that it`s just getting butchered in many
ways when it comes to the economy and trying to struggle out of it.
Governor, I want to ask you. Who is going to pull Mitt Romney out of
this? Who is going to stand on stage with him? Look at the politics of
the last two years in this country. Where`s Chris Christie, where is Rick
Scott, where is Snyder from Michigan, where is Walker from Wisconsin, which
is Mitch Daniels from Indiana? Where are all these governors who have been
attacking Barack Obama but they won`t stand up for Mitt Romney right now.
And this is a political crisis for him right now. Where is the Chris
Christies of the world? What do you think?
STRICKLAND: Well, even Ohio governor Kasich has indicated recently
that he does not agree with the Romney criticism of 47 percent of
SCHULTZ: They`re running for the hills.
STRICKLAND: Yes. They`re running for the hills. And they should
because, you know, they are going to be pulled down by this guy and
candidates for the Senate, candidates for the house, they see what`s
coming. A tsunami is coming unless this man is able to turn this around.
And, Ed, he spoke from his heart when he criticized 47 percent of
Americans. It was not a slip of the tongue. He revealed the true Romney.
And he gave us evidence of what many of us have thought about this man for
a long, long time. He is concerned about the wealthy and I think he has a
lack of capacity to understand what life is like for just regular people.
SCHULTZ: I think it speaks volumes that the guys have been going
after Obama and his agenda over the last several years are silent right now
when Mitt Romney is in crisis, political crisis.
Ari Melber, final point, I want you to bring up here. Is it - I
noticed today that President Obama, he didn`t waste any time. He is using
this hidden tape. He believes it`s what Romney is all about. Is he going
to continue to do this? And will he bring it up in the debates? What do
you think?
MELBER: I think he`s absolutely going to bring it up. I mean, I
think you have here is a moment of clarity, a moment of candor, a moment of
truth and that is going to just stick to Mitt Romney. And you can distract
away in the news cycle. I do think the media gets distracted. I think you
got to watch out because some of the press is going to look to even this
up. They are going to beat up on Romney. They are going to find something
wrong with Obama. Some other you tube --
SCHULTZ: Can`t do it with any credibility. I don`t think they can do
it with any credibility. I mean, President Obama`s campaign has been damn
near flawless. I mean, when you want to compare it to Mitt Romney`s. But,
I got what you`re saying.
Ari Melber, Ted Strickland, governor, great to have you with us
tonight. Thanks so much.
STRICKLAND: Thanks, Ed.
MELBER: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, Mitt Romney releases his 2011 tax returns and it
turns out he chose to pay a higher rate. David Cay Johnston is here to
crunch the numbers.
And Paul Ryan, you got to love this if you are lefty, he gets booed at
the AARP annual convention. Lot of that going around lately. Senator
Bernie Sanders, we love to hear from him. He joins me tonight. Stay
You are watching "the Ed Show" on MSNBC.
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to "the Ed Show."
Well, it turns out being unemployed pays pretty well, if you`re Mitt
Romney. Romney chose to released his 2011 tax returns return today in a
late Friday news dump. In 2011, Romney paid $1,935, 708 in taxes on $13.6
million worth of income. It means, his effective tax rate last year was
14.1 percent. Would you like to have that rate?
The Romneys also donated, to their credit, four million dollars to
charity in 2011 and claimed a two million dollar deduction on those
contributions. We should point out, Romney chose to limit his charitable
deductions. If he had taken full deductions, his tax rate would have been
somewhere around nine percent. That probably wouldn`t have fared very well
with the American people.
Romney also released summaries of his taxes from 1990 to 2009. They
claim Romney`s average tax rate for those years is 20.2 percent. They also
claim that the lowest rate Romney ever paid was 13.6 percent.
There is a whole lot of information here to digest in these documents
and what it all means. Our next guest can do it better than anybody. I`m
joined by David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author
of the book "The Fine Print, How Big Companies Use Plain English to Rob You
David, great to have you with us tonight. When you see the tax return
of Mitt Romney 2011, what jumps out at you? What did they do? How did he
get 14 percent?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, AUTHOR, "THE FINE PRINT": Well, he`s at 14
percent because he mostly has this capital income. And we tax people who
are wealthy on the income from their money less than we do people who work.
What`s interesting here is Romney said in an interview with ABC if he paid
more than the minimum tax, a dollar more than the minimum tax the law
requires, it would make him unqualified to be president.
Well, he paid somewhere in the order of between 265,000 and 600,000
dollars more than necessary, little as his tax bill was, because he didn`t,
at least for the moment, deduct the full four million dollars of charitable
contribution. So by his own standard, he`s made himself unqualified to be
president. I think it`s a silly standard, but he said it.
SCHULTZ: Isn`t this a classic example, his tax return, how the
wealthiest Americans really have it pretty damn good in this country.
JOHNSTON: Boy, I would love to be paying a 14 percent tax rate. He
also did something else where -- Romney should be trying to shut this down
every way he can, Ed. You have to wonder about his judgment in all of
this, because that`s the only test we have of somebody running for
president, is judgment and how he`s handled this.
In the statement they put out about the 20 years of returns, they use
the verb "owed," They owed taxes. They didn`t use the word paid, meaning
paid in the year in each individual year. That leaves open the possibility
that they filed an amended return in a later year, that they were audited
and were required to pay higher taxes.
So I wrote the campaign and I ask them what about this. What I got
back an answer that was absolutely unresponsive to this. So now he`s
opened up this new questions, well, were there in fact big audits of you at
some point? He said he`s been audited. Did you have to make a big payment
because you underpaid? Did you ever pay penalties?
All these questions are now back on the table because they didn`t
carefully write the statement that they issued or they wrote it the way
they did because they have to.
SCHULTZ: And there are questions and also some maneuverability that
he can do with this tax return of 2011. Isn`t it possible for Romney, that
he can deduct an unclaimed amount in future years. For instance, if he
doesn`t get elected president, he can go back and say, you know what, I`m
going to take the full deduction instead of the 2.2 million on the four
million dollars that I donated.
JOHNSTON: Exactly right, Ed. Mitt and Ann Romney have three years to
amend their return. And if he`s not elected president, I`m sure they will
file an amended return and take the full amount. And it will knock his tax
rate down. You have to do some technical work to figure out exactly where
it is -- as low as about 9.6 percent, as high as 12.2, but certainly well
below the level that he`s talked about, and well below the level that
anybody working, who makes even 50,000 or 60,000 dollars a year, pays as a
share of their income.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent out a Tweet on
Romney`s taxes earlier today. He said "when will the American people see
the returns he filed before he was running for president?" What do you
think about that comment? Are you curious about his tax returns before he
said he was going to run for president? And then -- the way the market
went in 2008 and 2009, there might be a chance that Romney didn`t pay any
JOHNSTON: Yes. They assert in there -- that`s why that word "owed"
is important, that they owed taxes, as opposed to "paid." They do say
they`re current with whatever their taxes are. I was probably the first
person to call on Romney to release his returns. It`s getting close to a
year ago now. And he hasn`t done this. Clearly there`s something in
there, Even if it`s something that`s legal, that they know would just be
fatal to his campaign.
And in all of this, it`s just astonishing to watch how he has
mishandled this. Here`s a guy who says, I`m this brilliant businessman,
I`m proud of all this money I made, and look at all these things I did.
And he can`t seem to run a campaign where he can talk about the only issue
that can get him elected, which is that the economy hasn`t improved as fast
as some Americans would like. That`s a really serious flaw on his part as
CEO of the Romney campaign. That`s not a job he`s handling well.
SCHULTZ: Friday tax return releases might change the subject a little
bit this weekend on the talking heads, because of the 47 percent comment
earlier this week. We`ll see how it all plays out.
David Cay Johnston, thanks for your analysis tonight. Appreciate it
so much.
There`s a lot more coming up in the next half hour of THE ED SHOW.
Stay with us.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first step to a
stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare, because it represents the worst
of both worlds.
SCHULTZ: The Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it gets a
rude greeting at the AARP Convention today. Up next, Senator Bernie
Sanders on Paul Ryan`s rough day with seniors.
And the Republican Senate implosion continues across the country.
TODD AKIN (R), CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: If it`s a legitimate rape, the
female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
SCHULTZ: Today it was Todd Akin`s turn to debate Claire McCaskill.
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: He has apologized for those
comments, but they say a lot about how he views things.
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Senior citizens gathered in
New Orleans today for the AARP`s annual convention. First, President Obama
addressed the crowd via satellite, assuring them the programs they paid
into will remain intact.
OBAMA: Given the conversations that have been out there in the
political arena lately, I want to emphasize Medicare and Social Security
are not handouts. You`ve paid into these programs your whole lives.
SCHULTZ: Then it was the republican ticket`s turn to speak up. The
Romney/Ryan campaign offered up the man who vows to end Medicare as we know
it, the architect behind fundamentally changing the program for generations
to come. Needless to say, a few of his big ideas were met with boos.
RYAN: The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare,
because it represents the worst of both worlds.
RYAN: I had a feeling there would be mixed reaction, so let me get
into it. It weakens Medicare for today`s seniors and puts it at risk for
the next generation.
SCHULTZ: They ain`t buying it. AARP is a nonpartisan organization,
but it supported the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare.
Ryan didn`t let boos stop him from attacking the president.
RYAN: Time and again, this president has ducked the tough issues.
He`s put his own job security over your retirement security.
RYAN: Of course he said he`d be willing to work with Republicans, but
he has not moved an inch closer to common ground.
SCHULTZ: Some convention-goers walked out of the Ryan speech. It
should be of little surprise that seniors in attendance weren`t sold on
Ryan`s rhetoric.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they could see the shallowness in some of
the arguments that Mr. Ryan had proposed. The people around me were
booing. And I think they get the feeling that these folks will say
anything just to get elected.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I didn`t find Ryan sincere at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s the haves and the have-nots. And that
bothers me because I grew up in a Republican party that was not that way.
The 47 percent, that`s horrible to come out with a statement like that,
because, hey, I`ve worked. I`ve worked since I was 14 years old. I`m 72
now. I`ve paid into all these program, Medicare. They`re not
SCHULTZ: Joining us tonight, Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from
Vermont. Senator, great to have you with us tonight. The Ryan/Romney
campaign was going to run on changing Medicare. Doesn`t look like it`s
working out very well for them. But I want to challenge what Ryan said,
that the Democrats have ducked the issues. What`s your response to that?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, in fact, Obamacare -- so-
called Obamacare that Ryan was attacking, while it doesn`t go as far as I
would like to go -- I`m a single-payer advocate -- what it does do is make
the greatest advances in terms of providing health insurance for 30 million
more Americans, a huge step forward, ending this obscenity of preexisting
conditions, making sure that kids under 26 can continue to get health care
from their parents, and putting huge amounts of money into disease
prevention and keeping people out of the hospital and out of the emergency
We also doubled the number of community health centers in this
country, so 20 million more Americans can get primary health care. I don`t
think that is ducking the health care issue. I think that is probably the
boldest step forward in many, many years.
SCHULTZ: Senator, do you think that this just walks seniors right
into the Democrats` camp? Go ahead.
SANDERS: This is what I think, Ed. When you get old, probably the
issue you worry about most is you`re going to get sick, what kind of health
care is out there for you, can you afford it. And when you have somebody
like Ryan come forward and say, look, we`re going to end Medicare as we
know it, people are saying what is he doing? Medicare is a popular
program. It`s not perfect, but it is a damn good program providing health
care to millions and millions of people. He wants --
SCHULTZ: They make the case that -- senator, they make the case that
they`re trying to save the program. What about that?
SANDERS: They`re, quote unquote, saving the program by forcing -- of
course they`re not trying to save the program. What they are trying to do
is create a voucher program, which will mean that a significant increase in
cost will fall on the backs of the average senior citizen. And that`s why
he gets booed. They know that.
You just stop and think for a second, Ed. You`re 70 years of age.
You`ve been diagnosed with cancer. And they give you an 8,000 dollar check
to walk into a private insurance company. What do you think that private
insurance company, whose function in life is to make money, is going to say
to you when you have tens of thousands of health care bills in front of
you? They`re going to reject you.
Seniors understand that. And then you got Paul Ryan, who has been a
leader in trying to privatize Social Security. You got Paul Ryan, whose
budget in the House would cut Medicaid by over 700 billion dollars in a 10-
year period, devastating cuts for children on health insurance, throwing
millions of people off of health insurance, and in addition -- in addition
making it much, much harder for people to afford nursing home care.
Seniors understand what I think an increasing number of Americans
understand, that these guys are there to protect the wealthiest people and
the largest corporations. And they`re going to devastate virtually every
program we have passed in the last 80 years, which protect the elderly, the
children, the sick or low-income people.
SCHULTZ: Senator, I got to ask you, I know that you have signed on to
a letter along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to President Obama,
asking him to state exactly his position on saving Social Security. Why
would 29 Democratic senators sign on? Are you not real confident that the
president is going to there been when it comes to the debt reduction costs,
that he would actually put the big three on the table for a big chop? What
do you think?
SANDERS: Ed, Let me tell you what I think. And I helped write that
letter. What I think is that four years ago, President Obama was very
clear when he was running against McCain. And he said, I will not cut
Social Security or raise the retirement age. And 29 of us wrote a letter
today because we want the president to make that statement again. He has
not made that statement.
And I worry very much that after the election, corporate America,
Republicans, some Democrats are going to get into a room and, in fact, they
are going to do deficit reduction by cutting Social Security, by moving
toward a so-called chained CPI, which would mean very significant cuts over
the years for the elderly and, by the way, for disabled veterans. I hope
the American people -- go ahead.
SCHULTZ: Well, it sounds to me like 29 senators want some very direct
answers from the White House. Have you gotten a response back on this
SANDERS: No.
SCHULTZ: Do you expect a response?
SANDERS: The answer is we have not gotten a response. And I am
nervous that we will not get a response. I hope the American people say,
Mr. President, make it clear, do not cut Social Security.
SCHULTZ: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with us tonight here on THE
ED SHOW. Thanks so much, senator.
Democrats are surging in Senate races across the country. It`s real.
John Nichols is going to join me next. Stay with us.
AKIN: I don`t believe that this election overall is about talk, but
it`s really about two visions of what America is.
SCHULTZ: And in the Big Finish tonight, that was Congressman Todd
Akin answering a question about his legitimate rape remark. Akin and
Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri held their first debate today. And
just like other GOP Senate candidates lately, it did not go well for Todd
Here`s Senator McCaskill from the debate.
MCCASKILL: He has apologized for those comments, but they say a lot
about how he views things. I believe a rape victim should be allowed to
have emergency contraception in order to avoid pregnancy. Todd Akin does
not. I believe his view is extreme and out of the mainstream for most
But there`s other extreme views. He wants to abolish the minimum
wage. He wants to privatize Medicare, privatize Social Security. He wants
to do away with the Student Lunch Program.
SCHULTZ: Senator McCaskill kept going, but you get the picture.
Later today, Todd Akin tweeted a picture of a woman`s rally for the
congressman. If it looks sparse, it`s because the Associated Press says
more than 100 people were there. GOP Senate candidates seem to be having a
really hard time as of late. Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson
complained about the effect Mitt Romney could be having on his own Senate
race. Here`s Romney defender John Sununu responding.
JOHN SUNUNU, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: My good friend Tommy Thompson
sounds like Barack Obama blaming it on somebody else. Look, campaigns go
up, campaigns go down. I`m sure Tommy will be fine in the long run.
SCHULTZ: According to "Politico," a senior Romney campaign official
dismissed questions about Romney`s down-ballot impact as "galactically
stupid." The official said GOP Senate nominees have stayed close to the
top of the ticket. Really?
Let`s turn to John Nichols, Washington correspondent for "The Nation
Magazine," and author of the book "Uprising."
John, what`s unfolding here? Is there any doubt Mitt Romney is
starting to have a down-ballot effect?
JOHN NICHOLS, "THE NATION": Not among GOP Senate candidates there
isn`t. Tommy Thompson said that the reason he has gone from a nine-point
lead in Wisconsin to a nine-point deficit is because of Mitt Romney. Now
up in Massachusetts, Scott Brown has said, you know, he doesn`t have the
same world view as Mitt Romney.
In Connecticut, the republican candidate there has renounced Mitt
Romney`s 47 percent remarks. The fact of the matter is Republican
candidates who are in tight races are terrified of Mitt Romney. And you
saw it writ large across last night`s debate between Elizabeth Warren and
Scott Brown.
The most devastating thing that Elizabeth Warren said in that debate
was simply I support Barack Obama for president. I think he should have
another term. You saw Scott Brown gulp, because when you bring Romney into
this thing, that`s trouble.
SCHULTZ: John, doesn`t this embolden Democrats quite a bit, to go for
the jugular on the issues, to be aggressive? Because it seems Republicans
across the board are so terribly off message, especially with the middle
NICHOLS: Absolutely. You saw what was happening in that Akin and
McCaskill debate. Claire McCaskill did reference Akin`s extreme comments
as regards reproductive rights and rape, but then she used it as a bridge
into a host of other extremes. The fact of the matter is when Mitt Romney
goes off message, when Todd Akin goes off message, it starts Americans in
states across this country to think, wow, is this Republican party so far
out there that I just ought to go down my ballot and pick the Democratic
I think you`re seeing a lot of that happening. The polls are
suggesting an Obama connection.
SCHULTZ: President Obama will be in your state of Wisconsin tomorrow.
It seems that the pick of Paul Ryan on the ticket has had a negative
effect. CBS/"New York Times" poll shows 51 to 45, Obama now leading Mitt
Romney. What`s happening in Wisconsin?
NICHOLS: Well, the polling is astounding. We now are seeing in what
I think is the best of the polls -- this is a Marquette University poll
that came out yesterday. It showed a 14-point lead for Barack Obama. It
also showed a nine-point lead for Tammy Baldwin in that Senate race.
You`ll note that tomorrow, Barack Obama will stand right next to Tammy
Baldwin, the Democratic Senate candidate. And you`re starting to see that
up-and-down the ticket message coming through. I don`t think that anybody
would have thought you`d see that even two months ago. Now Democrats are
feeling incredibly confident, and I think for some good reason.
SCHULTZ: John Nichols, Washington correspondent for "The Nation"
magazine. I`m at dinner last night and I`m reading your tweets at 11:00.
Will you get some sleep this weekend? Do you ever sleep? That`s what I
want to know.
All right, John, great to have you with us tonight. As always, thanks
so much. That`s THE ED SHOW. I`m Ed Schultz. Be sure to tune in tonight
at 10:00 p.m. Eastern for a replay of the "Saturday Night Live Weekend
Update Special." You won`t want to miss it.
"THE RACHEL MADDOW" show starts right now.
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