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Intro: How big data benefits enterprise information security posture
Andrew Hutchison explains how big data benefits enterprise information security posture by merging the security and operational data landscape.
The adage "bigger is better" often permeates our thinking. But when looking at "big data" and security, it's best to proceed carefully to ensure this is the case.
The more centralized, consolidated model of big data offers organizations a chance to revisit data security and improve on legacy situations
Big data is increasingly trumpeted as the Holy Grail of business intelligence and data mining. By super-sizing data sets, a landscape is created using a variety of existing and new data assets from across an enterprise to enable rich farming of information. From a security point of view, there are two perspectives to consider with respect to big data:
- Once this information asset is created, how can organizations secure big data?
- What can big data techniques do for enterprise information security?
Let's consider each of these perspectives in turn, and consider the possibilities for organisations about to embark on a security big data project.
The big data approach is all about consolidation. Big data has arisen as an evolution from distributed data sets, separately managed and interrogated, to centralized data sets, which aggregate and standardize data that may previously have been dispersed in different places and systems. This data is typically security event information from servers, workstations, antivirus, firewalls and IDS/IPS systems. It can also include cyber-physical data from devices such as process controllers or business-level event data from transactional systems, which when combined with infosec data sets could be useful for detecting fraudulent transactions and the like.
The power of this construct is it becomes possible to perform advanced analytics to understand information such as customer behavior, which can be highly valuable for marketing and targeted sales campaigns or better business insights. From a technology perspective, many companies are virtualizing and centralizing their offerings – driven in particular by cloud-based technologies. By applying such standardization and consolidation, data can be combined with the premise that, as data sets increase, so too does the usefulness of the information they contain. Associated big data processing models provide special techniques for handling such data sets.
How do organizations secure big data?
Applying security to the type of data sets handled in big data systems can be challenging. As an attractive target, a big data collection is of keen interest to an attacker due to the vast amount of potentially lucrative information it contains. A primary challenge for security practitioners is to work alongside data analysts to ensure big data sets are constructed and managed with security in mind from the start, this means both at the file or data storage level, and built into the data warehouse. I have seen many examples of data storage and analysis systems where security had to be retro-fitted, and it didn't function as seamlessly or effectively as it could have. Purely technical issues also need consideration, since techniques like encryption may be quite capable and efficient for files of mega- or tera-byte size, but may be severe performance inhibitors for files that are peta- or exa-bytes big.
But big data security can also be seen as an opportunity. While multiple, distributed systems and data sets may provide smaller, less appealing targets, organizations are often inconsistent in the management and application of security to these data sets. The more centralized, consolidated model of big data offers organizations a chance to revisit data security and improve on legacy situations. From a privacy perspective, big data may also allow organisations to take a holistic view of the data they have on hand and ensure the collection, processing and archiving/destruction of this information is managed according to evolving privacy directives and regulations.
What can big data techniques do for security?
Once an organization creates a unified repository of information, that repository becomes a potential asset for information security. Big data analysis techniques can be performed to find relevant clues to pinpoint possible attacks, fraudulent transactions or other security breaches.
For example, one of the greatest challenges with security analysis is correlation: identifying the relationship between multiple actions or events, and seeing how these combine to implement an attack. The power to process simultaneous correlation searches is an implicit benefit of big data techniques and this is a new, useful and appropriate capability that aides existing security detection processes. The exact data types are not specifically enhanced by big data per se, but in some instances additional fields can be computed (for example: the time since an event of this type was last seen) to provide additional context and input to the big data analysis process.
For organizations to capitalize on big data techniques, a holistic view of the operational and security landscape needs to be created. This involves the incorporation of relevant information at different levels of operation, from transactions (with associated logging and controls/balances) to system usage activities (logins, accesses, connections) to system activity logs (desktops, servers, firewalls, routers and intrusion detection system devices), all of which can be combined to create a comprehensive view of activity. Collecting, inspecting and reacting to these diverse events through a security information and event management (SIEM) platform can be a valuable first step in establishing a big data security repository, but the addition of big data analysis capabilities will enable faster analysis of non-normalized data sets, enabling greater predictive. So while the SIEM remains critical as the actual security database will likely be collected via a SIEM, it will also be interrogated with other tools. There are various options, and most major software companies are presenting big data products, including Microsoft, SAP AG and IBM. EMC Corp. has introduced Greenplum, allowing massively parallel processing and data storage and analytics, while Oracle Corp. has developed a big data appliance. Other niche companies like Splunk offer data analytics and visualization services, too.
Experts' perspectives on big data security
Gartner says big data security will be a struggle
Microsoft is concerned about big data in the cloud
In some SIEMs, not all data is collected (edge filtering) or stored (database purging / selective storage), because the repositories can grow too large for SIEM systems. But it is ineffective and indeed wasteful to have a large volume of data and not be able to retain the full picture. The way forward will be a cooperative venture between SIEM providers (who must store and make available large security data sets) and big data toolkits and engines that can extract and mine the security data in meaningful ways, with the promise of eventually incorporating other types of information such as unstructured video camera data feeds and other context-relevant information. Organizations can also benefit by using programming frameworks like Hadoop, which has the capability to direct parallel processing across multiple nodes, in their analysis activities.
The security analysis challenge is to find the relevant information in a sea of "noise" – for all the relevant data that can be accumulated, it will usually be dwarfed by vast amounts of unnecessary data. Fortunately, there are specialized techniques that can be used for processing vast amounts of big data to find the useful information. For example, with approached involving MapReduce (the programming approach used with data warehouses like Hadoop), whereby problem sets are divided into tasks that can be processed in parallel. The interesting opportunity is to see how the application of these techniques to security events and information (as big data in themselves) can improve security insight and proactive management. Big data techniques can help provide context to information, with a view of activities and patterns against particular norms provided in the large data sets.
With careful application and consideration, there can be significant big data benefits for enterprise information security -- both by applying security to big data sets (with the opportunity to normalize security approaches and mechanisms) and by applying big data analysis techniques to deal with the vast amount of security information and event information that's collected.
There are challenges, though: how to deal with such large scale data; appropriate ways to structure information, and the very important element of finding the right, highly skilled analysts to lead the organisation into big data – and out again.
Bigger can be better, but careful consideration and planning is required to ensure the big benefits are not overshadowed by introducing big problems that are insecure or unmanageable. Organizations can pave the way toward improving their information security posture with big data by establishing and diversifying the security-related information feeds they collect, thinking beyond traditional security data to include security camera footage, building access data and payment transactions. By starting to integrate these feeds with big data toolsets and processing engines as they evolve, enterprises will benefit by diversifying and yet enriching the quality of security-related information that can be processed and analyzed in a meaningful way using big data analysis techniques.
About the author:
Andrew Hutchison is an information security specialist with T-Systems International in South Africa. An information security practitioner with 20 years of technical and business experience, his technical security work has included secure system development, security protocol design and analysis, and intrusion detection and network security solutions. He has held executive responsibility for information security in a large enterprise, establishing its chief security officer role and initiating an ISO27001 security certification program. As business sponsor for large SIEM rollouts, he has experience in deploying and operating SIEM systems in a managed service provider environment. He is an adjunct professor of computer science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.


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Cocktail Storytelling: 5 Great Books To Seek Out
All the basics of the bar.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.
Last year, I suggested five essential cocktail books, ones that I thought offered a mix of cocktail theory and a great selection of recipes.
Now it's time to expand your library again, but this time I'm taking a different approach. Some of the books in today's guide offer cocktail recipes, but more importantly, they tell great stories. Every author in today's mix is a great raconteur, each with a unique and fascinating voice. These books scratch the surface of cocktail and drinking history, while exploring imbibing customs both in the United States and around the world.
These books aren't necessarily reference manuals, in terms of giving you quick, handy access to tons of cocktail recipes. The books in the previous cocktail guide are excellent for that purpose. This time, I've chosen great writers with funny or interesting things to say.
The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury
The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks is a mid-century classic, written not by a bartender or a spirits journalist or any sort of booze professional. No, David Embury was a tax attorney in Manhattan, albeit one with very strong opinions about cocktails, spirits, and mixing. The book opens with basic principles of cocktail-making, then covers necessary gadgets and glassware, drink ingredients, and pointers for mixing great drinks. Embury then describes six basic cocktails (the martini, Manhattan, old-fashioned, daiquiri, sidecar, and Jack Rose) and variations on those basics. He then dedicates a section to rolling your own—creating new cocktails based on the ideas he's discussed throughout the book.
As I said, Embury's opinionated, and not everyone agrees with him on all points. For example, he argues vehemently in favor of a 1:2:8 ratio when mixing sours such as the Sidecar: one part sweet (Cointreau), two parts sour (lemon juice) and eight parts base ingredient (cognac). I don't know anyone who prefers Sidecars made this way; they're bone-dry. Embury's book is full of recipes, but you might want to use them more for general guidance than for exact measurement. Agree with his recipes or not, you'll still learn from him. I consider this to be one of the most important books in my cocktail library. The book was initially published in 1948 and was out of print for decades until Mud Puddle Books resurrected it in 2008. My copy is a first edition, which my wife bought for a pittance from someone who apparently had no idea what he or she had, and I'll never part with it.
Buy it on Amazon, around $40 »
The Hour by Bernard DeVoto
Buy it on Amazon, around $12 »
Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis by Kingsley Amis
Everyday Drinking also brings some classic booze wisdom back into print, but unlike the selections by Embury and DeVoto, Amis's work is kind of a new book. Everyday Drinking is a 2008 compilation of three of Amis's earlier works: Kingsley Amis on Drink, Every Day Drinking, and How's Your Glass? The material in this collection dates from the period 1971–1984; some of the material is collected from columns he wrote for a British magazine.
The book is most famous, perhaps, for introducing the concept of the "metaphysical hangover," that feeling of dread, depression, and misery that descends upon you the minute you realize how physically wrecked you feel when you wake up in the afternoon after a long bout of boozing. Amis also provides invaluable advice on how to economize when having guests over—for example, he suggests serving a lot of (cheap) food to fill up stomachs and make less room for wine. Whether you take his advice to heart or not, the book is nevertheless an enjoyable read; Amis even includes cocktail recipes, although I must say, you should take those with a shaker of salt. Some of them are rather vile, in fact. No one's perfect. Finally, should you need to test your knowledge of gods' nectars, the book ends with a series of quizzes; if you can pass them all, you probably drink too much, which is in itself good knowledge to have.
Jigger, Beaker, & Glass: Drinking Around the World by Charles H. Baker Jr.
Charles H. Baker Jr. was a writer, magazine editor, and world traveler. He married an heiress to a mining fortune and with her wealth spent many years traveling and compiling food and drink traditions from around the world. Baker traveled and drank with Faulkner and Hemingway. He published The Gentlemen's Companion in 1939; a vintage set of the original edition sells for hundreds of dollars today, but this reissue, from 1992, is available for much less. Baker's number-one fan is St. John Frizell, writer and owner of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Frizell writes of Baker's recipes that "some are comically impractical," and it's true. Many of Baker's cocktail recipes are forgettable, unfortunately, but that takes nothing away from the yarns he spins. (One recipe that is certainly worth remembering, and enjoying right now, is called Remember the Maine, and don't you forget it.)
Buy it on Amazon, around $17 »
How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well by Eric Felten
How's Your Drink? is my final choice, and it's the only book original to this century. And that's fine; Felten writes about the same stuff that Embury, DeVoto, Amis, and Baker discussed. The very title is borrowed from Amis, who would query his guests, "How's your glass?" Felten's book is a collection of his columns from the Wall Street Journal. Felten takes drinks apart one by one, while simultaneously dissecting the history of drinking. Each chapter explores a particular peculiarity about the history of booze, and offers drink recipes to further illustrate his comments. And Felten is not afraid to pit one guru against another. David Embury, for example, was no fan of DeVoto's martini, and Felten quotes Embury as calling DeVoto's version "phooey!," specifically poking fun at DeVoto's overly specific 3.7:1 ratio. Gasp! You mean there's catty backbiting among the cocktail cognoscenti? Who'd have imagined!
Buy it on Amazon, around $11 »
Add Your Favorites!
What did I miss? Who are your favorite cocktail storytellers? Feel free to call out your cocktail book essentials in the comments!
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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The Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw®Life Extension NewsTMVolume 12 No.
1 • February 2009
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
—Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
—Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Why should I? Everyone knows me there (upon being told by his wife to dress properly when going to the office) Why should I? No one knows me there (upon being told to dress properly for his big conference)
—Albert Einstein, Quoted from Ehlers,
Liebes Hertz! (1994)
—Albert Einstein, Quoted from Ehlers,
Liebes Hertz! (1994)
Alliance, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third.
—Ambrose Bierce
—Ambrose Bierce
Here richly, with ridiculous display The politician's corpse was laid away. While all of his acquaintances sneered and slanged, I wept; for I had longed to see him hanged.
—Hilaire Belloc
—Hilaire Belloc
The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights.
—J. Paul Getty
—J. Paul Getty
A new study1 reveals more evidence to support the view that the reason antioxidants have "failed" to show benefits in intervention studies is that (1) target biomarkers (such as levels of oxidative stress) have not been established at baseline, and (2) that antioxidants should not have been expected to improve people with low levels of oxidative stress or other biomarker of disease risk.
In the new study, researchers examined the effects of vitamin E or vitamin C for two months on CRP levels in 396 healthy nonsmokers. The findings showed that, while vitamin E had no effect, vitamin C (1000 mg/day) reduced the median CRP by 25.3% (as compared to placebo) but only in those participants with elevated CRP (≥1.0 mg/L), indicative of elevated cardiovascular disease risk. When all participants were included in the analysis, no vitamin C effect on CRP was seen because the median baseline CRP was only 0.85 mg/L and no significant treatment effect was seen in those with CRP <1.0 mg/L.
Why Earlier Antioxidant Intervention Trials "Failed"
As the authors conclude, "[t]hese results may shed light on the mixed results found in large 'antioxidant' trials with clinical endpoints. No such trials have limited participants to persons with elevated CRP or oxidative stress, and most have not characterized participants with respect to those factors." "If one mechanism of potential antioxidant treatment is reduction in CRP, inclusion of subjects without elevations in CRP would tend to have weakened such studies, particularly those involving healthy volunteers. In the present study of healthy volunteers, 55% of participants had CRP values <1.0 mg/L."
Vitamin C as Effective as Statins in Reducing CRP
The authors also discuss several trials of statins on CRP levels and the effectiveness of vitamin C in this study as compared to statins. The 0.25 mg/L (16.7%) reduction of CRP by vitamin C found in the participants with baseline levels of CRP >1.0 mg/L "suggests an effect of vitamin C on CRP that is similar to that observed with statins."


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MIT Finishes 11th in Learfield Sports Directors' Cup RankingsJune 24, 2011CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the second year in a row MIT placed 11th among all Division III schools in the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. The Engineers' Institute-best finish once again registered as the highest performance by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
Milton Gooding Steps Down as MIT Men's Soccer CoachMay 23, 2011CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Following a successful four-year stint as the head coach of the MIT men's soccer team Milton Gooding has announced his resignation. The 2010 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Coach of the Year, Gooding amassed an overall record of 43-21-6 resulting in the highest winning percentage in the program's history (.657).
Christian Therkelsen Named to ESPN Academic All-America First TeamNovember 19, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Christian Therkelsen became the first player in the history of the men's soccer program and fourth MIT athlete to earn ESPN Academic All-America First Team honors for three consecutive years. The senior forward joins Duane Stevens '98 (football), Uzoma Orji '06 (track and field), and Julia Zimmerman '09 (women's gymnastics) in this elite accomplishment.
Milton Gooding Named NEWMAC Men's Soccer Coach of the YearNovember 09, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Coming on the heels of an undefeated season in league play, MIT men's soccer head coach Milton Gooding was voted the Coach of the Year for the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). In addition, the Engineers saw Christian Therkelsen, Zachary Kabelac, and Ben Lewis earn All-Conference First Team honors while Jonathan Tebes received a spot on the Second Team.
Engineers Fall to Wheaton, 2-1, in NEWMAC Men's Soccer SemifinalNovember 06, 2010BABSON PARK, Mass. – Third-seeded Wheaton College scored two goals in the final 29 minutes to rally from a 1-0 deficit and defeat second-seeded MIT, 2-1, in the semifinals of the 2010 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Soccer Tournament at Babson College's Hartwell-Rogers Field on Saturday.
MIT, Wheaton Battle to 1-1 TieOctober 30, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer regular-season finale, MIT and Wheaton College emerged with a 1-1 draw on Saturday. The Engineers, ranked No. 7 in the NCAA New England regional poll, saw their ledger move to 10-2-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the conference while the Lyons' record shifted to 10-5-3 on the year and 3-2-2 in the NEWMAC.
Men's Soccer Edges Clark, 1-0October 23, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT mens soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to 10 following a 1-0 victory over Clark University in a New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Saturday. Jonathan Tebes registered the lone goal of the contest in the 74th minute for the Engineers, who are currently ranked No. 7 in the latest NCAA New England Regional poll.
Engineers Blank Coast Guard, 1-0October 16, 2010NEW LONDON, Conn. Senior Joey DeRosas header in the 48th minute was the only goal of the game as MIT held on for a 1-0 win over the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in a New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) mens soccer game.
MIT, Babson Play to 0-0 TieOctober 09, 2010BABSON PARK, Mass. Babson College junior goalie Peter Crowley and MIT junior keeper Dylan Rankin each made four saves in their respective nets as the Beavers and Engineers played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie in a New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) mens soccer contest at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Saturday afternoon. With the deadlock, Babson, ranked fourth in the most recent NSCAA New England poll, moved to 8-2-2 overall and 1-0-2 in the conference, while MIT, ranked eighth in the region, moved to 8-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the NEWMAC.
Men's Soccer Fights Off Brandeis, 2-1September 22, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. MIT withstood Brandeis Universitys unrelenting attack during the final three minutes of regulation and emerged with a 2-1 victory in a non-conference mens soccer game on Wednesday. The Engineers improved to 7-2 on the year following their sixth straight win. The Judges suffered their first loss of the season as their ledger dipped to 6-1.
Five Engineers Named NEWMAC Players of the WeekSeptember 20, 2010Cambridge, Mass. MIT was well represented in this weeks New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) player of the week announcements, snagging five of the eight honors.
Engineers Win Fifth in a Row, Upend Springfield 2-1September 18, 2010SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Despite a furious second-half rally, the MIT mens soccer team held on for a 2-1 victory over Springfield College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams on Brock-Affleck Field on Saturday afternoon.
MIT Ranks Fourth Among All NCAA Institutions in 2010 NCSA Collegiate Power RankingsSeptember 17, 2010CHICAGO, Ill. – The National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) recently announced its eighth annual Collegiate Power Rankings. Following another tremendous year, the Engineers were listed fourth overall in securing their highest ranking in the history of the report. The NCSA Athletic Recruiting's Collegiate Power Rankings assess the academic and athletics standards of all NCAA athletic programs across the country. The Power Rankings were developed to help prospective student athletes and their families evaluate the particular strengths of the top colleges and universities at the Division I, II and III levels.
MIT Cruises Past Wheelock, 6-0September 16, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. In the inaugural meeting between both programs, the MIT mens soccer team defeated Wheelock College, 6-0. Eight different players earned a point as Christian Therkelsen led the way with two goals and an assist for the Engineers (5-2-0). With the loss, the Wildcats saw their record dip to 0-5-0.
Mens Soccer Tops Emmanuel, Extends Winning StreakSeptember 14, 2010BOSTON, Mass. The MIT mens soccer team registered its third consecutive win over a Boston-based school in six days after defeating Emmanuel College, 3-1, on Monday. The Engineers scoring contributions game from freshmen Jonathan Tebes, Andrew Fijian, and Matthew Monheit while seniors Christian Therkelsen and Adriel Fidone were credited with assists.
Engineers Overpower Newbury, 6-0September 11, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT mens soccer team saw seven different players record at least one point in its 6-0 victory over Newbury College on Saturday night. Zachary Kabelac led the way with two goals and an assist for the Engineers, who improved to 3-2 on the year. With the loss, the Nighthawks ledger lowered to 1-1 overall.
MIT Outlasts Emerson, 2-1, in Double OvertimeSeptember 08, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Ben Lewiss header on a cross by Adriel Fidone sailed into the left side of the net in the 108th minute to give the MIT mens soccer team a 2-1 victory over Emerson College on Wednesday. With the win, the Engineers improved to 2-2-0 on the year while the Lions saw their ledger dip to 1-1-0.
Mens Soccer Falls to Wentworth, 1-0, at Babson Fall ClassicSeptember 05, 2010BABSON PARK, Mass. John Golden scored the game's only goal on a first-half penalty kick to lift the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards to a 1-0 victory over the MIT Engineers on day two of the 2010 Babson Fall Classic at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Sunday.
Eastern Connecticut Edges MIT, 2-1, in Babson Soccer ClassicSeptember 04, 2010BABSON PARK, Mass. Eastern Connecticut State University mens soccer team defeated MIT, 2-1, in game two of the Third Annual Babson Soccer Classic hosted by Babson College. Matt Furman led the way for the Warriors scoring one goal and chipping in an assist in the win. With the win, the Warriors start the season off 1-0 while MIT dips to 1-1.
Engineers Edge Salve Regina 4-3, in 2OTSeptember 02, 2010NEWPORT, R.I. Zachary Kabelac scored his second goal of the game 4:04 into the second overtime to lift the MIT mens soccer team to a 4-3 win over Salve Regina University in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon at Brother Michael Reynolds Field.
MIT Announces 2010 Fall Webcasting ScheduleAugust 20, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - MIT has announced the following dates for its 2010 Fall Webcast schedule. In addition to broadcasting the Engineers' football, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball and water polo teams, Tech will begin offering webcasts for field hockey for the first time in 2010.


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2015 Indian Chief
2015 Indian Chief Vintage Motorcycle. 1811.
Features Include:
Cruise Control
ABS Brakes
Alarm System
Saddle Bags
Trailer Hitch
Recreational Vehicle Financing Request Get a quote on standard finance, lease & balloon programs Any – Make – Model – Miles 2000 & Newer Terms up to 180 months Rates as low as 6.25% fixed 24 hour turnaround Any State We handle all DMV work Certified Check for Title or Wiring Instructions First time buyer welcome i.e. Home Owner Self Employed OK 680 or better score required Funding within 48 hours


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Celebrate New Year's Eve at Dragonfly with festive prix-fixe dinner
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Start the New Year off right with a delicious four course, prix-fixe meal at Dragonfly Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Whether you are starting off a night of club hopping or tucking in early to make first chair, ring in 2013 at Dragonfly.
Chef Billy McCullough created a menu at $60 per person. Guests start off with teasers that include smoked trout mousse crostini and buckwheat bilini with dill creme fraiche and salmon caviar. Diners may then choose between four appetizers, such as golden and ruby beet-truffled goat cheese ravioli with baby arugula and roasted fennel salad or Maine lobster, avocado, mint, and mango lettuce wraps with rice noodle vermicelli, tropical Nouc-Cham, and lemongrass-yuzu cream.
The main course choices include grilled pole-caught North Carolina swordfish with Hoisin barbecue sauce, pineapple-bok choy fried rice and mizuna-green toasted almond salad, slow braised short ribs with grilled broccolini, creamy polenta, and mandarin-ginger chutney or Asian cioppino with white prawns, Dungeness crab, swordfish, Penn Cove mussels, and grilled sourdough baguette with yuzu aioli. Eggnog cheesecake streudel with caramel sauce or chocolate mousse with fresh berries are two of the delicious dessert choices to finish your meal.
Vegetarian and gluten-free options are available, as is a kids menu. Make your reservations today and send 2012 off in style.
Dragonfly Restaurant and Sushi Bar is located upstairs at 10118 Donner Pass Road, in downtown Truckee. Reservations for dinner are recommended at 530-587-0557. The Sushi Bar is first come, first served. Check out Dragonfly on the web at http://www.dragonflycuisine.com or "like" them on Facebook.


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DAF Apprentice Programme
The DAF Trucks National Apprentice Programme
In order to meet growing demands, truck operators look for quality, durability and reliability from their vehicles, but it is not enough simply to manufacture a truck to the highest standards.
A truck is a major investment that must earn its keep and, once an operator has bought a vehicle, keeping it on the road becomes the main priority. That is why the same high standards must also apply to the repair and maintenance support that truck buyers need and - with the country's biggest and best equipped dealer network - DAF's Back-Up service ensures that they are not disappointed.
DAF's technicians are part of a highly skilled workforce that is committed to quality. With the rapid increase in the complexity of today's trucks - and the technology needed to keep them up and running - first class training for those involved in the vital servicing and maintenance of these vehicles has become more important than ever.
The DAF Trucks National Dealer Apprentice Programme gives you the chance to join the select group of specialist technicians working on some of the most modern, sophisticated trucks on the road. And it's not just a job. It's the first step in a career that gives you the opportunity to advance, succeed and fulfil your ambitions in the motor industry.
For further information download the brochure here
or contact us Solway DAF on firstname.lastname@example.com or call the DAF After Sales Services Manager on 01844 261111


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Polish Lowland Sheepdog, PON breeders, PON the dog, PONS, Polish Lowland Sheepdog Information
The Polish Lowland Sheepdog (PON) is a robust sheepdog with roots in Tibet. In fact, it is said that the heavy fur which covers the eyes of this sheepdog is a natural adaptation to the glaring sunlight of the region. Nomadic tribes traveled with the ancestors of Polish Lowland Sheepdogs during their migration to European countries and the breed became established among the local population. Polish Lowland Sheepdogs developed a reputation for hard work, loyalty and strong herding instincts.
The breed's herding instincts have survived for centuries and even today, they still need a job and will attempt to herd their human families in the absence of sheep. Polish Lowland Sheepdog (PON) lovers will appreciate reading the PON Digest online publication to learn more about this beloved breed. PON Digest provides reliable information for those wishing to raise PON puppies and is a Polish Lowland Sheepdog Information guide.
Monthly publication for Polish Lowland Sheepdog lovers
Autoimmune Disease
by Linda
Aronson,DVM "A
dog is the only thing on earth that loves you
more than he loves "
Sorbet Recipes
Autoimmune Disease by Linda Aronson,DVM
dog is the only thing on earth that loves you
more than he loves
Sorbet Recipes
PON Youtube Videos' Featuring PON Puppies !
(Send us your video links and we will upload them)
Here are 48 hour puppies. Enjoy ! Untenstehender link
ein 2 1/2 Wochen alter Welpe am üben, bellen knurren und laufen! A big thank you to
Beatrice Brack, PON von Regensdorf, Switzerland for sending
this video to the PON International community.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0puTrjy7ACo Feeding 8 Puppies: DraqueBien B-litter, summer, 2010 (Ilona's
puppies) (Finland)
PONS 4 weeks
PONS and Havanese = Garden Party I
want to inform you about a new
Database for the Polski Owczarek
with at the moment 21.992 PON's including a lot of pictures.
(Japan, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, USA,
Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, France, Austria ..)
The program I'm using is Pedserve.
Hope this program will be useful for all the PON-breeders around the
Polski Owczarek Nizinny - Online Pedigree Database Administrator
Here are 48 hour puppies. Enjoy !
Untenstehender link ein 2 1/2 Wochen alter Welpe am üben, bellen knurren und laufen!
A big thank you to Beatrice Brack, PON von Regensdorf, Switzerland for sending this video to the PON International community.
Feeding 8 Puppies: DraqueBien B-litter, summer, 2010 (Ilona's puppies)
PONS 4 weeks (Netherlands)
PONS and Havanese = Garden Party
want to inform you about a new
Database for the Polski Owczarek
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text: Christophe Thommeret wrote: > Le Saturday 13 September 2008 21:21:35 Steven Toth, vous avez écrit : >>> First i tried old api (kaffeine)-> everything works as expected. >>> Then i tried new API (with latest tune.c) -> nova-t and nova-s work, >>> cinergyT2 doesn't. I've also noticed that FE_SET_PROPERTY ioctl always >>> return -1, even when success.. >>> Then i tried old api again -> now dvb-s doesn't lock and dvb-t always >>> lock on the freq used in tune.c >> Fixed in the current tree. > > Indeed, cache bug is now fixed, old api works as expected in all cases. (Exept > for the cinergyT2 case off course) Speaking of which, I looked at this yesterday. I'll post my feedback back to Johannes thread, where I said I'd investigate. > > However, i see that GETting DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM always returns the cached > value, so at first (after modules (re)load) it returns 0. An application > really needs to know the delivery system (and others usefull infos) to be > able to handle a device, like the old api FE_GET_INFO. > Yes, talking with Darron we're talking about being able to identify the existence of the API and capabilities. We have the DTV_FE_CAPABILITY_COUNT and DTV_FE_CAPABILITY (current defined but not connected in dvb-core) which would be the natural place to expose every older (and newer) feature of the demods. The command you're referring to now does exactly what it's supposed to, it selects your last SET value (or if the demod has provided a .get_proeprty() callback), the demod could chose to answer differently. In principle we could add a one line fix to the cx24116 demod "c->delivery_system = SYS_DVBS2;" to solve your initial problem - but I don't that's the correct approach. When the phase #1 work is done we'll fill out the capabilities changes in dvb-core and start to expose interesting features, like LNA, diversity, delivery systems, power controls or anything else that the linuxtv community thinks is generalized and useful. We will take these steps carefully. - Steve


text: RBNY Academy Update: October 29 | U-14s defeat Philadelphia while U-12s split results Tweet © The New York Red Bulls Academy had three teams in action last weekend between the Red Bulls U-14s and both U-12s. Red Bulls U-14 defeated Philadelphia on the road, while the U-12s split their decisions with one win and one loss against Cedars Stars at the Red Bulls Training Facility. The U-18s and U-16s return next weekend on Halloween against Bethesda-Olney in Rockville, Md. New York Red Bulls U-14 (4) at Philadelphia Union (1) PHILADELPHIA (October 24, 2015) – The Red Bulls U-14s recorded a 4-1 win on the road against Philadelphia Union. The Red Bulls started pressed from the opening whistle and were rewarded in the 3rd minute. Midfielder Aziel Jackson played a perfect ball over the top of the Union defense and forward Kejiel Watt ran onto the ball and chipped the Union goalkeeper from 25-yards out. The lead was doubled in the 14th minute when forward Scotty Taylor collected a misclearance and scored a bicycle-kick goal from 12-yards out. The Red Bulls then made it 3-0 in the 20th minute when midfielder Danny Ramm picked up a loose ball and blasted a shot from 25-yards out into the top corner of the goal. New York completed their scoring in the 23rd minute when Taylor scored his second of the game and team leading 11th goal of the season. After receiving a pass from defender Lucas Santos, Taylor beat a Union defender and grabbed a brace with a blast from just outside of the penalty area into the top right corner of the goal. Philadelphia Union pulled one back in the 29th minute when a Red Bulls defender miscleared a shot into his own goal. The Red Bulls were unlucky not to build on the lead as Jackson and Watt both blasted over from close range after being played in behind the Union backline. Taylor was then unlucky not to complete his hat-trick in the 34th minute when he pressured the Union goalkeeper on a back pass and narrowly missed with his shot. The second half saw the Red Bulls complete the day with a dominating defensive performance and great overall team pressure, although forward Kejiel Watt had to be subbed off in the 65th minute with an injury. Goalkeeper Liam Bertrand was solid in goal as the U-14s improved to 7-1-1 on the season. "The team responded well from last week's loss," Man of the Match Scotty Taylor said. "Each and every player was ready to play today right from the kickoff and it showed in our first half performance. We hope Kejiel's injury is not too serious and he recovers quickly." Next week, the Red Bulls U-14 head to North Carolina for the U-14 USDA Showcase. Opponents include Orlando City SC, New England Revolution, Kendall SC (Miami, Fla.) and CASL Railhawks. Man of the Match: Scotty Taylor Scoring Summary (Assist in parenthesis): NY: Kejiel Watt (10) (Aziel Jackson, 4) 3' NY: Scotty Taylor (10) 14' NY: Danny Ramm (1) 20' NY: Scotty Taylor (11) (Lucas Santos, 1) 23' PHI: Own Goal 29' Lineup: Liam Bertrand, Jonathan Ned (Samory Powder 60'), Salvador Pliego, Lucas Santos, Peter Stroud, Danny Jara, Danny Ramm, Aziel Jackson, Alex Quezada (Jordon May 19', Nick Gencarelli 60'), Kejiel Watt (Leo Hecht 65'), Scotty Taylor Subs not used: Sean Joo, Michael McDougald, Jayden Reid New York Red Bulls U-12 - Blue (12) vs. Cedar Stars - Blue (1) HANOVER, N.J. (October 24, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls U-12 Blue had a decisive victory on Saturday against Cedar Stars Blue, 12-1. The Red Bulls controlled the game from the beginning and created numerous chances throughout the match as a result of some positive build-up play. Next week the Red Bulls U-12s will take on Albertson SC in New York. Red Bulls Scoring Summary: Goals: Omre Etienne (4), Leo Guarino (3), Paolo Primavera (2), Adam Havens (2), Curt Calov (1) Assists: Gavin Tabije (2), Paolo (1), Omre (1), Curt (1), Leo (1) New York Red Bulls U-12 - White (2) vs. Cedar Stars - White (3) HANOVER, N.J. (October 24, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls U-12 White trailed early as a result of two goals before answering with two of their own to tie the game in the second half against Cedar Stars White. However, the Red Bulls were unable to manifest any late game heroics as they did in their prior two games and suffered their first defeat of the season from a late goal by the Cedar Stars. Red Bulls Scoring Summary: Goals: Dion Ahmetaj (1), Jack Krongold (1) Assists: Luciano Sanchez (1) Back to news


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Guest Host: Michael Smerconish
Guests: Sue Herera, Dana Milbank, Michael Isikoff, Michelle Bernard, Eugene Robinson, David Corn, Joe Williams, Nathan Fletcher, E. Steven Collins
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, GUEST HOST: Tale of the tape.
Let`s play some HARDBALL.
Good evening. I`m Michael Smerconish, in tonight for Chris Matthews.
Leading off: The 99 percent solution. The FBI is now on the scene in
Sanford, Florida, focusing on whether Trayvon Martin`s civil rights were
Plus, we may now be able to say whose voice it was screaming for help
on the 911 tape. George Zimmerman`s family says that it was his, Trayvon
Martin`s mother says it`s the sound of her terrified son. Now forensic
experts have weighed in with what they say is 99 percent accuracy, the
screams are not from George Zimmerman.
Also, swing time. A "USA Today" Gallup poll of battleground states
shows a sharp swing from Mitt Romney to President Obama. Where one month
ago Romney was up by 2, now the president leads by 9 points. The big
change, women, who are lining up behind the president. Is the controversy
over contraception finally taking a toll on the GOP?
And good news for Mitt Romney. He`s lining up endorsements. The bad
news, they sound a lot like this note of support from Senator James Inhofe.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: I`ve never been much of an Obama --
of a fan of -- of Mitt Romney. He`s an honest person, a nice person, but
I`ve just not agreed with him politically on a lot of things.
SMERCONISH: We`ve got more cases where Republicans sound like they`d
prefer to be doing just about anything other than endorsing Romney.
And while it`s not unusual for a politician to leave his political
party, it is news when a rising star jumps ship. And that just happened in
California, where a promising Republican has decided the GOP is just too
conservative for him.
Finally, even though it`s set in the 1960s, "Mad Men" managed to have
its say about this year`s presidential election.
But we begin with the latest in the Trayvon Martin case. Michael
Isikoff is, of course, the NBC News investigative correspondent. He`s in
Sanford, Florida.
Michael, please give us the latest.
MICHAEL ISIKOFF, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, a pretty significant
development today, Michael. FBI agents showed up at the Retreat at Twin
Lakes gated community where the Trayvon Martin shooting took place, going
door to door, interviewing witnesses, questioning them about what they
might have seen, what they knew about the shooting, and also the background
of George Zimmerman, also taking photographs.
The evidence response team, the CSI unit, was there, all gathering
what one FBI official told me is going to be a meticulous, comprehensive
investigation of everything that took place that night...
SMERCONISH: Did we lose Michael? Yes, we lost Michael Isikoff.
Thank you, Michael. Maybe we`ll be able to get you back.
For more on this story, let me bring in Michelle Bernard, the
president of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy, and
E. Steven Collins, who hosts "Philly Speaks" on WRNB.
Michelle, Steven, one of the questions surrounding the 911 calls made
to police the night of the shooting is just who is heard screaming for
help. Let`s listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help!
911 OPERATOR: You think he`s yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: What is your...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just -- there`s gunshots!
SMERCONISH: Two forensic audio experts who analyzed the 911 calls for
"The Orlando Sentinel" now say those screams were not from Zimmerman. One
of those experts interviewed, Tom Owen (ph), also told NBC News that his
technology, like that used by the CIA and the National Security Agency, is
99 percent accurate.
Michelle Bernard, of what significance is this latest development?
MICHELLE BERNARD, THE BERNARD CENTER, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: This
is -- this is an -- this is enormously significant to the case. Assuming
that -- that George Zimmerman is indicted, that we go to trial, you will
see, obviously, that these -- that the prosecutor is going to want to
introduce this evidence because it`s going to go to the heart of the story.
And the story that George Zimmerman has been telling the public, that
he has told, we believe, to the police department is that he himself was
under attack, that he killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense. And if he was
able, for example, to argue that the screaming heard on the tape was
himself, it would lend credibility to the argument that he was acting in
However, if the screaming in the background is, in fact, Trayvon
Martin and a jury hears that, the jury is more likely to believe that
Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman.
SMERCONISH: In other words, Michelle...
BERNARD: It`s a very, very critical piece of information.
SMERCONISH: What I think what you`re saying is that it`s really --
the significance is twofold. One, to the extent that these reports are
accurate, that Zimmerman has told law enforcement, That`s me on the tape,
A, it would make his testimony or his version of events and perhaps soon to
be testimony untruthful.
And B, commonsensically, you wouldn`t expect the aggressor to be the
screamer. You would expect the person who`s under attack to be the one
screaming. And so really, it would be a two-fold blow to him.
BERNARD: It would be a two -- two -- two-fold blow to him. And also,
Michael, if you put together the tape, the audiotape, and any testimony we
get about who`s screaming on that tape, and put that together with the
tapes that we`ve seen of George Zimmerman when he is with the police and
he`s in custody -- he`s handcuffed, he alleges that his nose was broken.
He alleges that he -- you know, that he had a head injury and that he was
bleeding from the back of his head.
If a jury looks at that and they listen to the screaming of what many
people now believe to, in fact, be Trayvon Martin, you`re going to be
saying to yourself, Did George Zimmerman basically concoct the story,
actually engage in racial profiling, and kill an innocent teenager who was
armed with nothing but Skittles and iced tea?
SMERCONISH: Michael Isikoff is back with us now from Sanford,
Florida. Michael, you talked about the FBI being on the scene today. Is
that independent or in support of the state investigation?
ISIKOFF: This is a parallel investigation, completely separate,
focused on whether there was a civil rights violation. You have the state
special prosecutor conducting that investigation into whether to charge
George Zimmerman for the shooting itself.
What the FBI is doing is a complete report for the Justice
Department`s Civil Rights Division to see whether there is basis for a
civil rights charge. Was this a hate crime? Was George Zimmerman
basically racially targeting Trayvon Martin as part of this.
And one piece -- crucial piece of evidence here is going to be the
history and pattern of George Zimmerman`s 911 calls. He called in the --
since last August seven times to police dispatchers. In five of those, he
was reporting about what he viewed as suspicious activity by young African-
American males They`re identified in the 911 call reports by -- as black
Now, these call reports don`t show whether Zimmerman volunteered this
information or was responding to questions by police, and that`s going to
be something that the FBI is going to be looking at also, the predicate for
those calls. Why was he calling? In one case, the call sheets say he saw
some young black males loitering in the area. Now, was that the basis for
a 911 call or not? That`s the kind of thing the FBI is going to be looking
at here.
SMERCONISH: Michael, I`ve listened to those tapes more times than I
should probably admit, and I think that they`re loaded with curiosities.
To me, one of them is that if it`s true that in the last 15 months, he`s
called 46 times, I find it unusual that when he logged this call, he didn`t
identify himself as a member of the neighborhood watch. Any thoughts on
ISIKOFF: Well, that`s an interesting question. He had been -- the
neighborhood watch only got set up last summer, and that`s the point at
which he acquired his -- put out his neighborhood watch card, which we`ve
seen. He hands it out to neighbors. He was going door to door, Zimmerman
was, saying, I`m your neighborhood watch captain. Call me. Let me know if
there`s anything suspicious going on.
Now, you`re raising a good question. I don`t know the answer to it.
One thing we`ve asked for and we`re waiting for is the actually tapes of
the prior 911 calls to see whether he had identified himself as a
neighborhood watch captain in the previous calls.
SMERCONISH: He -- well, he -- I can tell you that he did.
ISIKOFF: We don`t know.
SMERCONISH: I heard some that he did. And Steven Collins, let me
just bring you in because we`re all...
ISIKOFF: Well, I -- Michael, we haven`t -- we haven`t actually gotten
the tapes of the earlier calls yet. So I don`t know that we can say that
for a certainty.
SMERCONISH: OK, I can tell you that via the "Sentinel" Web side, I
have listened to additional calls where he does identify himself as a
member of neighborhood watch.
Steven Collins, we`re parsing a lot of details here, more perhaps
unknown than known. But with regard to the Trayvon Martin 911 call, common
sense tells me that when he lots it, he says, Hey, it`s George Zimmerman.
You know me from neighborhood watch. Here`s what I`m looking at. He never
says that.
E. STEVEN COLLINS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It`s interesting because I
don`t really see him as neighborhood watch, Michael. I see him as a guy
who had a predisposition. Again, remember, a 17-year-old boy armed with
what? A bag of Skittles and an iced tea? He wore a hoodie because that`s
what`s hip. He reminds me of my son and all the other kids that I know who
are Trayvon Martin.
This is -- the idea -- here`s the -- here`s my problem with this. The
local authorities never arrested, which meant he -- he got to go free, but
they didn`t get the initial investigation under way. There is DNA evidence
that`s being lost right now because Mr. Martin, 17-year-old, is
decomposing. We don`t know the trajectory of the bullet. We do not know
what kind of physical real damages were done to his physical self.
And in that, we can`t determine certain things. This appears to me to
be a major -- I don`t -- I hate using the word coverup, but it just -- why
wouldn`t the police hold him and do a...
SMERCONISH: Steven...
COLLINS: ... good investigation, solid investigation here?
SMERCONISH: Steven, I`ve been saying for a while now that it`d be
helpful to get a map of the area in Sanford, Florida, to get a clear
picture of the so-called Retreat at Twin Lakes.
And today, "The New York Times" had a great map. And we got our
version -- we have our own version right here, as a matter of fact. This
is an aerial image of the development. On the left, you can see where
Trayvon Martin was staying. And on the top of the map, you see George
Zimmerman`s house.
Trayvon likely entered the development one of two ways, the main
entrance or the unfenced shortcut that "The Times" reports residents
frequently used to cut through to save time.
Zimmerman called 911 when he saw Martin near the clubhouse and
identifies the clubhouse as a point of reference. And here`s where
Trayvon`s body was found by Sanford police as he approached the home in
which he was staying.
Michael Isikoff, you`re there. Is there any element, once you`re
there and you study the geography, that you think would help those of us
who are at home understand what went on here?
ISIKOFF: Well, actually, Michael, I was there over the weekend, and I
sort of retraced the route where Trayvon Martin came in and George
Zimmerman followed him. And you`re right, it`s the -- it begins -- the
spotting (ph) begins at the clubhouse, which is near a gate. And then he`s
watching -- he appears to be watching from his car at a distance.
And at some point, as Trayvon Martin continues, there`s sort of a back
path where -- which turns behind a row of houses. So Zimmerman would no
longer have been able to see Trayvon Martin.
He gets out of the car and then follows him there. That`s where the
confrontation takes place, in a spot where he could not have seen Trayvon
Martin originally watching from the car.
SMERCONISH: Final question, if I might, for Michelle Bernard.
Michelle, I`ve been saying that I need to know two things. I need to know
who`s crying for help at the end of that 911 call. I also want to know,
was a racial epithet said by Zimmerman under his breath at a time when he
appears to be, by audio, in pursuit of Trayvon Martin. You know what I`m
referring to.
BERNARD: I absolutely know what you`re referring to. I have listened
to that tape over and over and over again. If you listen to it closely, I
have absolutely no doubt whatsoever, beyond a shadow of a doubt...
COLLINS: There`s no doubt.
BERNARD: ... that under his breath -- that George Zimmerman called
Trayvon Martin an "F-ing coon." If you listen to it closely, there`s no
doubt about it whatsoever.
And I got to tell you, when you put all the evidence together, this is
an enormous travesty of justice!
SMERCONISH: The radio...
BERNARD: If you go back to that map -- Michael, if you go back to the
map that we just took a look at, George Zimmerman had to have followed
Trayvon Martin for quite a distance and quite a period of time after the
police told him that they did not need him to follow him. And it ended --
and it ended up -- the end result was that this child was -- is dead.
SMERCONISH: I have to leave it there...
BERNARD: He was killed...
SMERCONISH: I wish -- I wish we had more time, but thank you, Michael
Isikoff, Michelle Bernard and E. Steven Collins.
Coming up: President Obama`s got a 9-point lead over Mitt Romney in
key battleground states, and he`s building his big lead in large part
because of women. Could it be that the controversy over contraception is
hurting the Republicans?
This is HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: We`ve got new poll numbers out tonight. Let`s check the
HARDBALL "Scoreboard."
First, in tomorrow`s Wisconsin Republican presidential primary, a new
PPP poll has Mitt Romney up 7 over Rick Santorum, 43 percent to 36 percent.
Next, to that hot Senate race in Massachusetts. A new "Boston Globe"
poll has Republican senator Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth
Warren in a virtual tie. Brown`s at 37 percent, Warren at 35 percent.
That`s within the poll`s margin of error.
We`ll be right back.
SMERCONISH: Welcome back to HARDBALL. The latest "USA Today" Gallup
swing state poll shows a big shift from Romney to Obama. The states polled
are the dozen that will be crucial in the presidential election. You`re
seeing them here.
In these 12 states, President Obama beats Mitt Romney 51-42. Now,
since "USA Today" and Gallup began polling these swing states back in
November, Mitt Romney has won every prior match-up. As this chart shows,
the trend changed pretty dramatically in the past month.
One possible reason, women. Among women who are registered voters,
President Obama leads by 18 points. But why the switch? It would seem
logical that the contraception controversy played a role, but when women in
this poll were asked to identify issues that are extremely important in
their vote for president, health care was number one, government policies
on birth control last at number six.
Eugene Robinson is a columnist at "The Washington Post." David Corn
is the Washington bureau chief for "Mother Jones" magazine and the author
of a new book, "Showdown." Both are NBC political analysts.
Eugene, this is why they pay you the big bucks.
SMERCONISH: Explain this to me if it`s not contraception. Or is it
EUGENE ROBINSON, "WASHINGTON POST," MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well,
who knows, Smerc? I think perhaps health care is number one, the number
one issue that women say they are concerned about in these swing states,
and I suppose you could subsume some of these reproductive issues under the
rubric of health care and maybe you have an answer there.
But maybe you don`t. Maybe it`s an intensification of this sort of
male/female polarization that`s been happening between the two parties for
a while now.
SMERCONISH: Yes, I thought the same thing, that maybe by answering
"health care," that to the female respondents encapsulated much of what
they`ve been hearing.
David, this is not a Romney-specific issue. This is really a GOP
issue because other candidates in the Republican Party poll equally poorly
among women.
DAVID CORN, "MOTHER JONES," MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: And remember,
the contraception debate took place in the context of health care. And
it`s quite clear that whether you`re talking about contraception, health
care, and a lot of other issues, the GOP, Mitt Romney and others who`ve
played to the far right of their party, are losing them.
I mean, women tend to care more about the social safety net than do
men. In fact, they live longer. They do more of the, you know, health
care responsibilities of families. So if you`re talking about Medicare and
going after Social Security or Medicaid, it may affect them more.
And we`ve had in the last month or two a revival of the Ryan budget,
which is a war, in a lot of ways, on the social safety net. So I think
there`s a lot going in here. And I think that, in general, women tend to
be turned off more than men by political extremism, and the whole
Republican 2012 campaign has been a cavalcade of extremism.
SMERCONISH: Well, I have said on the radio that -- that every day
where the narrative is social issues, and not the economy, the president is
one step closer to being reelected.
CORN: Yes.
SMERCONISH: And maybe that is what the president was thinking,
because, earlier today, sensing an opening, he recorded this video for
members of Planned Parenthood. Let`s listen.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let`s be clear here.
Women are not an interest group. They`re mothers and daughters and sisters
and wives. They`re half of this country.
So when some professional politicians casually say that they will get
rid of Planned Parenthood, don`t forget what they`re really talking about,
eliminating the funding for preventive care that millions of women rely on
and leaving them to fend for themselves.
SMERCONISH: Eugene, how do you see it?
You heard my statement about the social issues breaking toward the
president if that`s the narrative.
ROBINSON: Oh, I think that`s absolutely true, and I think that`s one
-- one reason, one of several reasons why the Republican establishment is
so eager to get Rick Santorum out of this race, so that Mitt Romney can
start talking exclusively about the economy because they -- that`s a better
issue for the Republican Party than these social issues, which, you know --
and I think the term of art is, it freaks a lot of people out.
CORN: Yes.
SMERCONISH: David, listen to this. Vice President Joe Biden hammered
home the point that Mitt Romney is too wealthy to relate to average
Americans. React to this after you hear it.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Governor
Romney is a little out of touch. I can`t remember a presidential candidate
in the recent past who seems not to understand by what he says what
ordinary middle-class people are thinking about and are concerned about.
SMERCONISH: And then the response today in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was
from Mitt Romney. When asked about the vice president`s comments, he said
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would respond to that, that you`re out of
touch with an average American?
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, my guess is I get a
chance to be with a lot more average Americans every day than he does.
And as I go across this country, and as my wife does, we understand
something I think this president and this vice president don`t. And that
is that their policies have not succeeded.
SMERCONISH: David Corn, react to that exchange.
CORN: And that was right after they talked about the car elevator
they`re building. I think if you look at the social issues and the vice
president`s comment about him being a 1 percenter, it all fits the same
pattern, that he is not in touch with modern-day Americans, at least in
terms of recommendation troubles, in terms of policy.
And he`s running for the nomination of a party that seems to be
looking to the 1950s as their model for social policy. The president -- I
the president has believed since after November 2010 election that was
terrible for his party that the Republicans would give him an opening.
In fact, I know this for the reporting for my book that they would go
too far in economic supply theory or social conservative policies and that
he would be able to sort of maneuver he and the Democrats back to
resurgence. And that is exactly what is happening. And I think Mitt
Romney is giving him more and more of an opening to do that almost every
SMERCONISH: Eugene, something else happened today very interesting.
At an event in Green Bay, Mitt Romney was asked about his religion. The
questioner, our producers on the ground, by the way, tell us was a Ron Paul
supporter. Listen to this exchange.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, in the Mormon book, it says there were a
blackness came upon all the children of Canaan.
ROMNEY: I`m sorry. We`re just not going to have a discussion about
religion, in my view, but I could -- if you have a question, I will be
happy to answer your question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe it`s a sin for a white man to marry
and procreate with a black...
ROMNEY: No. Next question.
SMERCONISH: Eugene, I think he`s been missing an opportunity here.
When contraception and religion became an issue in the presidential race,
it was the perfect opportunity for Mitt Romney to say this is not a
theocracy, this is a democracy. Religion and religion litmus tests they
should play no role in Americans electing a president.
It frankly would have been a double knockout for him. But he punted
and instead he toed the party line. What thoughts do you have?
ROBINSON: Well, I think the question he faced was, how do you say
that in a Republican primary and not alienate the evangelicals?
He is walking a very fine line. I think what is happening is that
Mitt Romney is digging himself a hole out of which he will have to climb
during the general election campaign if he hopes to be elected president.
And to do that, he is going to have be an adroit politician, because he
will have to frankly go back on a lot of stuff without seeming to go back
on a lot stuff.
ROBINSON: So far he hasn`t been able to do that.
SMERCONISH: The harm I think posed continually by Santorum staying in
is that it delays his opportunity to do so.
Thank you, Eugene Robinson and thank you, David Corn, as always.
Up next, will Hillary Clinton run for president four years from now?
Bill Clinton has got some insight next in the "Sideshow."
You`re watching HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Now for the "Sideshow."
First up, "Mad Men" enters the fray. We all know the hit AMC show is
a throwback to the 1960s. So how did the name Romney come up during a
heated exchange in last night`s episode?
In this scene, an aide to New York`s mayor refuses a request that his
boss make an appearance in Michigan. Let`s watch.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Do you want me to turn down the TV?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It`s fine.
Henry Francis. Well, tell Jim His Honor is not going to Michigan.
Because Romney is a clown and I don`t want him standing next to him.
SMERCONISH: Romney`s a clown? Well, that, of course, was a jab at
George Romney, Mitt`s father, who served as Michigan`s governor back in the
`60s. But, of course, if Romney wasn`t running for president today, that
line wouldn`t have been in the show.
And even though we`re in the thick of this year`s election cycle, a
lot of people are wondering what`s to come in the 2016 face-off? Will
Hillary Clinton be on the ticket?
Former President Bill Clinton weighed in during an interview with
NBC`s Luke Russert.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She wants to
come home, get a little rest, do some other things. She`s told you and
everybody else that she thinks she will probably never run for office
But I have been there. I know what happens when you go through this
decompression after years of relentless high-pressure activity. And I just
think she needs to rest up, do some things she cares about. And whatever
she decides to do, I will support.
SMERCONISH: So it might be no for now, but perhaps we should take it
with a grain of salt.
Up next, Mitt Romney is lining up endorsements from fellow
Republicans, but a lot of the endorsers sound like their arms are being
twisted, and hard.
By the way, you can follow me on Twitter, if you can figure out how to
spell Smerconish.
This is HARDBALL.
SUE HERERA, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Sue Herera with your CNBC "Market
The Dow gains 52, the S&P is up 10, and the Nasdaq adds about 28
points. Stocks gained ground despite a much weaker-than-expected report on
construction spending which fell 1.1 percent in February.
Meanwhile, a gauge of manufacturing activity rose strongly last month.
Groupon tumbled nearly 17 percent after it said its fourth quarter was
actually weaker than initially reported.
And Express Scripts closed its $29 billion deal for Medco Health.
And that`s it from CNBC. We are first in business worldwide -- and
now back to HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: Hey, we`re back.
Having scored some of the biggest Republican endorsements over the
past few weeks, it appears as if the Republican Party is finally beginning
to line up behind Mitt Romney, but it`s safe to say that many of those
endorsements, they sound like more reluctant concessions to reality than
anything else.
Take a look at this bracket which has been put together by Yahoo!
News. It`s part of an online competition where readers are invited to vote
for Romney`s most tepid endorsements, in honor of course of college
basketball`s Final Four championship games.
Dana Milbank is a political columnist for "The Washington Post" and an
MSNBC political analyst. Joe Williams writes for Politico.
Gentlemen, though he didn`t endorse, here`s conservative Senator James
Inhofe reluctantly admitting that Romney looks like the inevitable nominee
just yesterday. Listen to this.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: I have never been much of a fan of
Mitt Romney. He`s an honest person and a nice person, but I have just not
agreed with him politically on a lot of things.
We have got to defeat Obama. I cannot allow that to happen to my
family. So whoever is in the best position to win, it appears that
probably Mitt Romney is in the best position to win right now.
SMERCONISH: Dana, maybe we shouldn`t be surprised because we have
been hearing that from a number of Republicans who have gone out to the
polls, some of whom have voted for Mitt Romney.
DANA MILBANK, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Michael I think if you could
have actually seen the audio of that radio interview, his eyelids would be
tapping out Morse code saying he was making this statement under duress.
MILBANK: And that is what is going on with these guys.
Now, they`re not exactly profiles in courage. They`re saying, this
guy is going to be the nominee. I better be on his good side. I have got
to get out there. And even then, they have got to stick a clothespin on
their noses and say, in case things go wrong and he`s not everything we
wanted him to be, I`m telling you now, I`m doing it reluctantly.
SMERCONISH: Joe, Senator Marco Rubio is another who endorsed Romney
in his case just last week. But listen to how he couched his endorsement
to "The Daily Caller -- quote -- "There are a lot of other people out there
that some of us wish had run for president, but they didn`t. I think Mitt
Romney would be a fine president and he would be way better than the guy
who is there right now."
Your reaction?
JOE WILLIAMS, POLITICO: Well, with friends like that and a ringing
endorsement, who needs political attack ads?
Basically, this is another chain in the continuing link about Mitt
Romney not being an authentic conservative. Stop me if you have heard this
before, but this is where all the Tea Partiers and all the arch-
conservatives in the party stop. They know that they have to do something,
they know that it`s getting late, they know that Mr. Right is not going to
come along, so they are accepting Mr. Right Now, sort of like an arranged
marriage almost.
And they know they have to do it because time is waning and the longer
this thing goes on, the more his negatives continue, the more the White
House`s positives improve. So they knew they had to do something and
that`s why you see these certain conservatives coming out in support and
trying to coalesce the party behind this guy.
SMERCONISH: Joe, maybe at least we would give them marks for
credibility, because if they had glowing, if they had been effusive in
their praise, I think we would be frankly sitting around and saying, did
you hear what Rubio said about Romney? He can`t possibly mean it.
WILLIAMS: Well, yes.
But, on the other hand, here we are talking about tepid endorsements.
The political world is full of people who fake it well, people who are able
to set aside partisan differences. A certain secretary of state and
president come to mind. When push came to shove, Hillary Clinton mouthed
the right things and went through the right motions.
But at the end of the day, she knew she had to get on with it, and at
the very least it wasn`t anything couched. It was like, I`m going to work
my heart out for President -- for candidate Obama. I will do my best to
bring my party together, and quiet a lot of the critics that came along
with President Obama when they had the big delegate fight.
They could have done a better job here and not made the arm-twisting
so obvious.
SMERCONISH: Dana, I have one more. Here`s former New York Governor
George Pataki throwing his support around Romney after listing all the
reasons to not support him.
GEORGE PATAKI (R), FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: And I think it`s time to
rally around the presumptive nominee.
Now, Mitt is not a perfect candidate. He has a number of problems.
It`s hard for him -- for blue-collar families like mine to identify with
him. It`s hard for economic conservatives to identify with him. He needs
to do more to reach out to the Latinos. But I think he has to focus on
that and on defeating President Obama, as opposed to winning the next
primary and the next state.
SMERCONISH: Dana, maybe -- as I said to Joe, maybe it`s genius,
because maybe these are tailored statements so that people who are sitting
at home say, yes, I don`t like the guy much either, but, OK, I`m going to
do the same thing.
MILBANK: Well, it`s certainly -- I think it`s much more self-
interested. It`s saying, don`t blame me if and when things go wrong, it`s
not what I wanted to have happen.
But the one good thing about this for Romney is these endorsements
almost never actually matter, even when it`s a big name. There are
occasional rare exceptions. But certainly at this late stage, everyone
knew the establishment was with Romney anyway. So the fact that a few more
establishment guys come out here and very bravely announce their support
after it`s inevitable anyway doesn`t really change things either way.
But I suspect you won`t be seeing, say, that Pataki statement in a
Romney ad any time soon.
SMERCONISH: No, I don`t think so.
Hey, Joe, let me just ask you about a piece that was posted at
Politico earlier today on the subject of endorsements. Where has W. been?
The handling of President George W. Bush, it is going to be very
interesting to see the way in which the Romney campaign handles him moving
forward. Your thoughts?
WILLIAMS: Well, and the way they handle him moving forward is by not
handling him at all or trying to not handle him at all.
President Bush`s half-life is still very much in act -- I mean, still
very -- a long time before you will get to the point where he is a guy you
will want to have a conversation with or the guy whose endorsement will
matter on the campaign trail. A lot of people in the Republican Party have
distanced themselves.
They know that the public still blames President Bush for a lot of the
bad things that have happened over the last eight to 10 years, and the
economy that we`re still trying to dig out from.
So I think if they do bring President Bush along, it will be kind in
the tepid, it will be Romney returning the favor for these tepid
endorsements, handling him a pair of tongs and a radioactive shield,
knowing that people view him as a very divisive public figure.
SMERCONISH: It`s just odd to me that you had Jeb, then you had
George Herbert Walker Bush -- frankly, the solution, they should have put
all Bushes together at the same time and they have defused any of the
concerns that the campaign would have had about W.
Anyway, thank you, Dana Milbank. And thank you, Joe Williams. I
appreciate your thoughts.
WILLIAMS: Sure.
SMERCONISH: Up next: giving up on the GOP, a rising Republican star
in California quits that part and he`ll explain why when we return.
You`re watching HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: Earlier, we heard former President Bill Clinton talking
about the possibility that Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2016.
One more nugget from the former president, he set the campaign alongside
President Obama this year. Here he is with NBC`s Luke Russert.
LUKE RUSSERT, NBC NEWS: Are you excited to go back on the campaign
trail for President Obama?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Oh, yes.
RUSSERT: Which states do you think you`re going to focus on?
CLINTON: I don`t know. You know, going to do these fundraisers,
three, I think, together. But, you know, I think that the general
direction of, excuse me, his policies have been good for the country.
SMERCONISH: There you have it -- Bill Clinton in for three Obama
We`ll be right back to HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
A growing number of Americans describe themselves as independents.
So where are the politicians that speak to them?
According to an August 2011 "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News survey, 40
percent of Americans said their general approach to the issues was
moderate. Since the 2008 election, more than 2.5 million voters have left
the Democratic and Republican parties, according to "USA Today". And
earlier this year, Gallup announced that 40 percent of Americans consider
themselves politically independent. That`s the highest ever measured by
the polling company.
Is there anybody trying to fill that void in the political system and
speak to those voters? Well, in California last week, something rare
happened. A rising star of the Republican Party said he was leaving the
GOP to run as independent for mayor of San Diego.
Nathan Fletcher is a decorated Marine veteran who served combat
duties in Iraq. He was elected in 2008 to the California assembly, but ran
afoul of his party for his willingness to work with Democrats.
Here`s what he said when he announced his defection.
STATE ASM. NATHAN FLETCHER (I), CALIFORNIA: I believe it`s more
important to solve a problem than preserve that problem to use in a
campaign. I`m willing to work or share or give all of the credit to
someone if the idea is good. I don`t believe we have to treat people we
disagree with as an enemy. I think we can just say some times, we
disagree. Maybe we`ll agree on the next one.
I have fought in a war, I have seen the enemy. We don`t have enemies
in our political environment here.
SMERCONISH: Nathan Fletcher is joining us now.
So, Mr. Fletcher, what has changed since you were elected to the
California assembly? And I guess by that, I mean, have you changed or has
the party changed? What`s gone wrong here?
FLETCHER: Well, I think, you know, in so many ways, I feel like what
you see in today`s political world is just that. It`s an environment that
isn`t fixated or focused on solving problems. It is to the clip just
played, it`s how do you preserve them to campaign on them.
And we`ve -- our politics has evolved to a point where I feel like
it`s just a game. And this isn`t a game. If you`re a small business owner
who`s struggling, if you`ve lost your job or your health care, or your
home, it`s not a game.
And I`m trying to send a message to San Diego voters that if I`m
elected as their mayor, I`m not going to be here to play games. I`ll take
your good idea, regardless of party. But our focus will always be how do
we solve a problem and move forward into a better future. I think we need
more of that in our politics today.
SMERCONISH: Did you misjudge where the party was in 2008 when you
ran, or has there been a sea change just in the last four years from your
perspective as to what the Republican Party, at least in San Diego,
FLETCHER: Well, there`s always been issues I agreed on, particularly
more on fiscal issues and some issues I disagreed on -- maybe on social, or
environmental or immigration issues. But I think the real change that`s
taken place in the last four to six years in American politics, not just
here in California, has been a trend away from having principle positions,
and you should never back down from your principles.
But at the end of the day, some members of each party need to sit
down. They need to negotiate in good faith and they need to actually get
teachers in the classroom, they need to actually build a bridge, they need
to actually have a competitive environment for job growth.
And that`s where I feel we`re lacking and we`re missing, is that
focus on how at some point you actually sit down and govern, and figure out
how to make it work and negotiate in good faith and care less about the
politics of it and more about actually doing the right thing.
SMERCONISH: Let`s talk about some of the reaction to your move.
Both Republicans and Democrats have accused of you playing politics. They
note you left the GOP after the local party decided to endorse somebody
Here`s what Jess Durfee, the chair of the San Diego Democratic Party
said. Quote, "Not even a month ago, Mr. Fletcher wanted to be the endorsed
Republican candidate in this race. When that didn`t work, he decided to
paint himself as an independent. Voters will recognize that he is just
another leopard trying to change his spots in an election year."
Your response?
FLETCHER: Well, I mean, what do you expect? I mean, it`s silly.
You know, any time you have the head of the Democratic Party and the head
of the Republican Party both saying you`re wrong, maybe you`re actually
right. And these are the same folks that have broken the system today.
When you talk to those colleagues of mine that I`ve served with, when
you talk to the Democratic speaker of the assembly, he said Nathan`s always
been an independent voice for what he believes is right. When you talk to
my colleagues in the Republican Party I served with, they said, we know
that he`s always been focused on solutions and frustrated by the system.
And we applaud his courage in making the move.
But most importantly, when you just talk to regular San Diegans, you
hear people who are fed up with politics as usual. They are fed up with
that`s the way it`s always been done. They are fed up with the extreme
right and the extreme left.
SMERCONISH: Well, I think because of some of the --
FLETCHER: They are focused more on preserving chaos than solving it.
SMERCONISH: I think some of the polling data that I set forth at the
outset of this conversation is the reason why many are interested in seeing
what`s going on in San Diego. David Brooks has written about you very
favorably in "The New York Times". I`ve read about you recently in "The
L.A. Times" and I took note of the fact that apparently the Romneys,
meaning Mitt and Ann Romney, have maxed out for you.
First of all, is that true? B, have they asked for their money back?
FLETCHER: No, nobody asked for their money back. I think our
supporters across the board came from a broad base -- Republicans,
Democrats. And what I`m hearing from a lot of them is that same
frustration. You know, party insiders are there to really preserve the
extremes or preserve the chaos maybe frustrated. And I don`t know what
they are so afraid of.
You know, you have choices in an election. In this one, you have the
far right and the far left. And someone in between we`ll have that debate.
But my supporters across the board, it`s really been reassuring and
comforting to say it`s time to get our city moving. It`s time to start
solving problems. It`s time to get things done. And we`re going to go out
and have this debate with the public.
SMERCONISH: All right. Let`s talk about whether it`s going to be a
successful strategy. You were out of the mainstream of your party when it
came to social issues. You have spoken of that, especially gay rights. In
2010, you strongly supported the repeal of "don`t ask, don`t tell".
Let`s ask what you said then.
FLETCHER: I didn`t think the policy of "don`t ask, don`t tell" made
sense when I served in peacetime. I didn`t think it made sense when I
served in combat. I don`t think it makes sense today.
There is nothing in someone`s sexual orientation that affects their
love of country, that affects their patriotism, that affects their
commitment to fellow marine or servicemen, or our great nation, and there
is certainly nothing that affects their ability to give their life.
Indeed, many already have.
SMERCONISH: Mr. Fletcher, I just have 30 seconds left with you.
Some would listen to that and they`d say, does he pick the wrong party to
begin with, he would have been better suited as an I from the outset or a
FLETCHER: Well, both -- my mom would agree with this. She`s been a
life long Democrat. But, you know, I have always been an independent
voice. When I took the position, party insiders said, hey, we need you not
to do that. I said, I can only do what in my heart I believe is right and
what my conscience tells me is best. And that was true when we spoke out
on issues like that and it`s true now when I say I will reject the partisan
extremities of what we`re doing.
And I hope San Diegans come together and rally. I have Americans say
we are frustrated with politics as usual. We have had tremendous traffic
on our Web site.
SMERCONISH: A lot of folks want to see if it`s going to work. Thank
you, Nathan Fletcher. Good luck to you.
When we return --
FLETCHER: Hey, thank you for having me. Have a great day.
SMERCONISH: All right. "Let Me Finish" with some embarrassing
Smerconish family stories that may give Mitt Romney`s dog on the roof a run
for his money.
You`re watching HARDBALL.
SMERCONISH: "Let Me Finish" tonight with this:
Despite my love for our miniature dachshund, Mr. Lucy (ph), I refused
to pile on the story concerning Mitt Romney`s treatment of his Irish setter
Seamus. By now, the facts have been widely circulated. In 1983, then 36-
year-old Romney packed his wife and five sons into the family`s station
wagon for a 12-hour drive into Ontario, Canada, to his parents` cottage.
Romney had fashioned a windshield to a dog carrier and then strapped the
crate to the roof of the car.
Midway into the cry, there was a cry of gross from the eldest son
Tagg who had seen brown liquid running down the rear window. So, Romney
pulled over, hosed down the dog and the car and got back on the road.
We know this because Neil Swidey wrote about it was in "The Boston
Globe" as part of a pre-election profile five years ago. And it was
Swidey`s recent explanation to me as to how he learned of the Romney
recital that causes me to cut Mitt some slack. He said he`d gone looking
for the Romney versions of the stories that every family has that are both
embarrassing and usually shared only among one another.
Embarrassing family stories? Like the night when my mother didn`t
like the looks of the crowd outside a student dance where she`d just driven
my old brother. So, after circling the block, she decided to march inside
wearing her bathrobe and removed him from his peers. Or when my dad got so
excited while winning "Wheel of Fortune," that host Chuck Woolery told him
he was concerned he was going to have a heart attack.
Growing up Smerconish, the Romneys had nothing on us when it comes to
such tales. And today, with my family of my own, it means my
embarrassments are still being recorded. Mention dogs to my brood and
someone will surely tell you about the day we lost our cocker spaniel
Winston. I was devastated, totally overcome. So, my wife wifely decided I
needed some grieving room and she took the kids out for a drive.
By the time they had returned, I`d taken an antique chest which once
belong to her deceased mother out of our living room and use it to bury
Winston in the backyard. She still complains about my use of a family
heirloom. I tell her not to worry, we know right where it is.
Our sons never let me forget the time I badly misjudged the opening
night demand for movie tickets to see "Talladega Nights". I was so sure
the Will Ferrell, Sacha Baron Cohen would sellout that I drove to the box
office in advance to beat the rush before later returning with my family to
a nearly empty theater.
According to our middle son who has taken the writing down some of
the more ridiculous things I often say, I give him plenty of material. I
confessed to once having tried to impress a gallery owner in Soho who`s
trying to sell me album art that I was, quote, "a nationally syndicated
radio host." The man was a stranger and I was a blow hard. And I`m
reminded of it constantly.
Now, if you think my stuff is simply embarrassing whereas Romney`s
was potentially dangerous, my wife begs to differ. She reminds me that I
once took our then 4-year-old on the space mountain ride at Walt Disney
World even though the safety harness barely fit him. And just last year, I
was intent on taking a 27-foot pontoon boat with our kids aboard into the
Gulf of Mexico despite a storm until I saw a fisherman standing on the
neighboring docks swaddled in quilts and shaking their heads.
Neil Swidey told me that he printed the Seamus the dog story for a
particular reason as part of a larger story as to how the guy operates in
big ways and small. I think many of us have plenty of our own material.
That`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"POLITICS NATION" with Al Sharpton starts right now.
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Bo-Bunny Press
So happy together . . . it's true! The vibrant colors of the Flirty Collection bring to life all the photos you treasure. A choice of three coordinating cardstock stickers and color transparencies inspire multiple themes and captions for your projects. Go to www.bobunny.com to view the variety of perfectly matched Double Dot brads, buttons, flowers and ribbons to complement your design. You and Bobunny . . . so happy together! For creative inspiration, visit www.bobunny.blogspot.com.
Hot Mama Collection
Glitz Design
The Hot Mama collection by Glitz Design is a fabulous assortment of black, pink and cream papers. The papers are a must-have for every scrapper! Don't forget the matching Hot Mama embellishments to go along with your HOT Mama papers, though. There are gorgeous stickers ranging from titles to journaling spots to border stickers, as well as matching rub-ons! So much to choose from, you may just need to get them all! Find a retailer near you today at www.glitzitnow.com or call 1-866-356-6131.
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Carol Beck
Phone: 408-855-5035
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Office Location: W2-403J
Department: Student Support Services
R.N., Catherine Laboure School of Nursing, Boston, MA
B.S.N., Sacramento State University
M.S., Clinical Counseling, California State University, Hayward
Ed.D., Counseling Psychology, University of San Francisco
Courses Taught
Carol Beck teaches multiple counseling classes; including Counseling 12 Career and Lifestyles, and Counseling 1 College Survival Skills.
Areas of Expertise
- Psychiatric Technician (L.P.T.)
- A.S. Psychiatric Technician
- Licensed Vocational Nursing (L.V.N.)
- A.S. in Vocational Nursing
- Preparation for Registered Nursing transfer for B.S.N. degree
- Certified Nursing Assistant (C.N.A.)
- Home Health Aide (H.H.A.)
- Community Health Worker and other health occupations