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Schools that Nataliya’s students have been admitted to include:

Standardized Test Prep

Academic Tutoring

Standardized Test Prep

SAT Subject Tests

NYS Regents

School Subjects

Algebra 2 / Trigonometry

School Readiness / College Prep

Study Planning

Time Management

College Timeline Planning

College Essay

Nataliya will send you a video explanation of how to solve all of your questions.

  • Nataliya was very professional at all times. She pinpointed where David could do better and worked on a strategy to get a good grade on his SHSAT.

    Mike S.
  • It was a pleasure working with Nataliya. Her lesson helped to improve my child's performance and confidence in math. Natalya is the extremely professional tutor.

    Luda Y.
  • Nataliya is a wonderful math tutor. My daughter is a freshman in high school and Nataliya started tutoring her a month before the alegbra math regents, the sessions made such a difference. She went from a student who was always guessing how to do a problem to a confident math student who did well on her regents. Her confidence soared. The lessons were a good value and Nataliya was very professional! We will definitely be using Nataliya for tutoring in the future.

    Joann D.
  • My daughter went from failing 4th grade to passing to 5th grade. And from barely passing the state test in 3rd grade (& not passing into 4th grade) to easily passing in 4th. She did all this within a 2 and a half month period. Nataliya is easy to work with. Extremely knowledgeable. And Great with my Kid. We couldn't have done it without her. We recommend her for any endeavor. Thanks Nat!

    Victor F.
  • The lessons with Nataliya improved my daughter’s performance immensely. Before starting her lessons, she felt lost. After about 3 lessons, she was back on track and excelling. Nataliya kept her fee reasonable and the benefit of the lessons far exceeded the cost. Great Value!!!

    Stephen L. President
  • Nataliya has been a top-notch tutor for my 17-year-old daughter. She is smart, patient, and caring with her students. She is not one of those tutors who does the work for the student, but instead gently guides the student to understanding. I would highly recommend her to anyone who has a high school student looking for help.

    Mark F.
  • Nataliya has helped to maintain motivation and thoroughly explain concepts to me when covering the ACT. I have begun, and continue to learn that the SAT and ACT tests are tests of a student's test taking ability and patience in taking practice tests rather than their intelligence. Nataliya has helped me become a better test taker with tricks and rules to better understand the tests' formats. Nataliya's strong point includes helping to explain the english language and grammar, considering she also doubles as a language and pronunciation coach!

    Jessica M.
  • Nataliya prepared my daughter for the SHSAT. She was always prompt, focused, friendly and encouraging. Our daughter felt ready on test day.

    Kathie H.
  • nataliya has been helping me prepare for the ACT since the begining of the school year and i've definitely improved. for example before i wouldn't be to good and confident in my math skills. she gave me easy ways to breakdown and look at the problem so i didn't get overwhelmed and i could see the problem clearer. the virtual format honestly was no different from sessions in person, it was sometimes easier because i could do my session whereever i was at the time and didn't have to rush to a meeting place. i have improved greatly and i am not so nervous to be taking the ACT thanks to nataliya.

    Kamila G.
  • Nataliya as a tutor is a great example that can push you for a better path in a educational solution to succeed for your goals. Also she the tutor the effort to improve any issue you may have trouble with and the tutor will work thru it . For my experience theres no better decision being tutored for a great development for myself . For taking tutoring little over a month my performance improved especially algebra like "integer" or "Linear equation " understanding poems structure. Being tutored from Nataliya help me understand the foundation I needed to overcome my weaknesses and breaking down in an better method to myself . About the format was pretty easy to be used also for me..."Thats a good thing"we all need that with good arranged to make it easy for the person to make it comfortable to learn . Furthermore , the day I took the test I felt very confident not worry at all I have to say it was a good feeling 🙂

    Angel O. TASC student

Case Studies

Megan, Senior, LaGuardia High School

“Nataliya has been great to work with. She is the best tutor we’ve had: she is prompt, accessible and very responsive. My daughter was struggling in Algebra2/Trig (she passed the Algebra 1 Regents but never took the full course). Nataliya helped her regain confidence and master the materials…she progressed from getting in the 50’s on her tests at the beginning of the year to a 97 on the Final Exam! We are now working on SAT/ACT prep. Nataliya has also been a great role model for my daughter, encouraging her to strive to do her best and reach for the stars. I’ve recommended her to friends who are as happy as we are!” — Patty, Megan’s mom

Algebra II / Trigonometry: Before working with Nataliya: 57%
Algebra II / Trigonometry: After working with Nataliya: 97%

Anna, Senior, Brooklyn Technical High School

“I have learned a lot from Nataliya. She makes teaching fun and easy. Her teaching methods are very clear and easy to follow. She learns about her students and finds the best way to help them. When she teaches, she lets you do the work and if you have any questions, she will answer them fully. Unlike some tutors who throw work at you and get angry, Nataliya is a very upbeat and encouraging person. She actually cares about how her students are doing in the topic she teaches as well as other things. Because of this, I’m inspired to do the work she gives me instead of putting it off. She’s always on top of things and a very reliable person. Also, I got a 94 on my regents; without her help, I wouldn’t have done nearly as well. ” — Anna L., Brooklyn Technical H.S.

Geometry: Before working with Nataliya: 82%
Geometry: After working with Nataliya: 96%
Algebra II / Trigonometry: Before working with Nataliya: 82%
Algebra II / Trigonometry: After working with Nataliya: 96%

What's it like to work with Nataliya?

Theo, Senior, Bard High School

“Nataliya was a fantastic tutor for our son. She helped him with strategy and focus, which truly instilled sense of confidence in him. This carried over to his performance, as we saw a 100+ point increase from his strong practice scores to his scores for the real thing. Nataliya is extremely pleasant and positive. A our son really enjoyed and appreciated working with her. Highly recommended.” — Seth K., Theo’s dad

SAT Math: Before working with Nataliya: 560pts
SAT Math: After working with Nataliya: 660pts
SAT Writing: Before working with Nataliya: 670pts
SAT Writing: After working with Nataliya: 760pts

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Air Seychelles signs historic codeshare agreement with South African Airways

The first phase of the agreement will see South African Airways place its ‘SA’ code on Air Seychelles’ non-stop flights between Johannesburg and Seychelles.
South African Airways will also place its code on flights between the two largest islands of Seychelles, Mahé and Praslin, subject to approval.

Subsequent to the launch of the partnership between Air Seychelles and South African Airways, the airlines will look into expanding the agreement to include Air Seychelles placing its 'HM' code on South African Airways’ non-stop flights between Johannesburg and destinations across South Africa.
Ticket sales are set to open today (April 29) for travel from tomorrow (April 30).

The deal follows a strategic move by Air Seychelles to increase its connectivity throughout South Africa and continental Africa.

In March 2013, Air Seychelles introduced an enhanced schedule and additional weekly service on its Johannesburg route, bringing the flights to three return services per week with daytime departures and arrivals. The new schedule greatly enhances leisure and business travelers’ ability to connect seamlessly on both airlines across Africa and South Africa, particularly to Cape Town and Durban.

Air Seychelles’ chief executive Cramer Ball said: “Our flights to Johannesburg have been incredibly successful, reflecting an increasing number of travellers coming out of South Africa to Seychelles for leisure, business and sport. Traffic from South Africa has grown at a steady pace of 11 per cent each year for the past decade. In the first quarter of this year alone, traffic is up 13 per cent.

“With this codeshare agreement, guests will be able to purchase flights from South African Airways’ destinations onwards to Seychelles on one ticket, making for a simpler and seamless journey.

“We have also established a foundation for twin-centre tourism products which combine a safari in Africa with a Seychelles beach holiday. SAA Holidays will also be adding Seychelles to their holiday programme, providing a new channel for selling travel to our island nation and supporting the vitally important tourism industry.”

Manoj Papa, South African Airways general manager commercial, said: “This partnership signals a strategic move by both airlines to increase connectivity and grow their networks. This also augments SAA’s already extensive African footprint. SAA currently flies directly to 26 destinations across Africa from its Johannesburg hub. Furthermore, the partnership adds breadth to our network, incorporating two additional destinations to the existing global partnership network which provides in excess of 1,329 destinations in 194 countries globally.With strategic partnerships such as this one SAA is able to provide its passengers with more connections on the continent and across the globe.”

For Air Seychelles chairman Joël Morgan, who is also the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, this partnership between flag carriers strengthens the historic commercial, political and cultural ties between the two countries.

“South Africa is a top trade partner for Seychelles and we have seen a growing number of South African nationals coming for visits to our islands. I’m delighted to establish this official partnership with South African Airways following a year of great change and achievement for our national carrier, particularly as 2013 marks 20 years of service to Johannesburg.”

Subject to regulatory approval, the airlines plan to expand the scope of this agreement to include frequent flyer programme reciprocity and more codeshare destinations on their respective networks.

Seychelles and South Africa established formal relations in 1993. Today, South Africa is Seychelles’ strongest African partner. Not only do the two countries share many mutual interests, but also have a strong bilateral partnership over and above their engagement with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union. South Africa is also supporting Seychelles in combating piracy and in its efforts to bring peace and stability in the region.

Tickets can be purchased online via or Alternatively, guests can purchase tickets through travel agents, the airlines’ sales offices or by calling Air Seychelles’ call centre at +248 43810 3 or South African Airways’ call centre at +27119785313.

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Pumpkin Seeds - 2.5kg

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Pumpkin Seeds - 2.5kg
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Katanga Crosses  Share

Katanga Crosses

Katanga Crosses

The Democratic Republic of Congo recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence, giving us a good opportunity to bring up a very unusual object hailing from one of the country’s southern provinces, Katanga. It is the copper cross.

The province of Katanga has always had a rather special aura thanks to its wealth of ore deposits, and it has always been particularly renowned for its copper mines. These mines have been exploited for a very, very long time in Katanga. As early as the 16th century, the copper was being exported as far as the coast of Angola and from there right up to Europe. In the past, copper extraction and casting was the prerogative of a mysterious guild called “the copper eaters”, members of a sort of secret society, a “bwanga”. They were the only ones who were able to remove the copper ore and work it. Production of this precious metal was surrounded by rituals, professional secrets, traditions and magic. The trade of foundry working bore a stamp of prestige and sacredness. One first had to be accepted into the guild and then initiated to the craft before being able to work the copper.

Source: Réseau Documentaire International sur la Région des Grands Lacs africains, http://www.grandslacs.net/

Source: Réseau Documentaire International sur la Région des Grands Lacs africains, http://www.grandslacs.net/

The copper ore was mined during the drought season, around the middle of May. “Les Anciens” (The Elders), who were the group leaders, announced the start of the ore gathering by saying: “let’s go and eat the copper”. It was these same people who controlled production and distribution of the copper cross currencies. Women and children extracted the malachite (natural copper-carbohydrate appears in the form of undulating greenish crusts) close to the ground, while the men dug out deep wells, sometimes as deep as 35 metres, to extract the precious ore. The extraction process lasted for three months. The ore was then burnt and molten down in temporary or permanent high furnaces made out of the clay found in Katanga’s many termitaria. The high furnaces were fuelled with charcoal or small logs and ventilated with the help of bellows made from antilope skins. The copper was refined and cast in another oven. The melting metal was brought in via a furrow in a mould traced by finger in the sand in order to make lingots. These took the form of the Saint Andrew’s Cross, more commonly referred to as croisettes. Copper mining by “copper eaters” continued until 1903. After that, it was the Union Minière du Haut Katanga – which was later to become Gécamines, the Générale des Carrières et des Mines – which took over the copper production. But, even today, there are still some traditional copper diggers.

Katanga Cross

Katanga Cross

Over several centuries, the crosses served in their own right as a means of payment and exchange in many Central African societies. They were almost as valuable as ivory. However, the crosses have always had several different functions, and various symbolic meanings. Besides their use as a currency, the crosses served as lingots, a reserve commodity, and also as a symbol of dignity and power. They also appeared in different shapes and forms of craftmanship depending on the areas, kingdoms, chieftainships in which they were made. These differences made it possible to determine precisely how far the authority of the different kingdoms extended. The first copper crosses appeared in the 13th century in the tombs of what is now southern Katanga at the same time as cowries and beads made from molten glass, which were also used as a means of payment. A large cross was actually laid on the chest of the deceased. From the 14th century onwards, the crosses found in the tombs were no more than a few centimetres in size until they disappeared altogether in the 18th century. They were replaced by glass paste beads and cowries. And it was during the 18th and 19th centuries that the crosses were used for paying the levy that the copper-producing regions had to hand over to the Lunda Empire, an African empire occupying a vast territory spanning the present-day Katanga, northern Zambia and eastern Angola. At the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century, the crosses started to be used in every-day trading. They also served as a means for paying matrimonial compensation. A woman’s marriage effectively implied a loss of labour for the bride’s family, which is why crosses were offered as compensation. A woman was worth a large cross, but a small cross could be added too if she had really remarkable qualities! During the 20th century, the crosses were used as medicine and as indications of dignity. Shortly after the Democratic Republic of Congo’s declaration of independence on 30 June 1960 – in those days it was called the Republic of The Congo and then Zaire – the province of Katanga wanted to gain its own autonomy, too. So, the province split away from the rest of the country following a coup d’état. During its brief spell of independence (1960-1963), Katanga chose the crosses as its official emblem. The National Bank of Katanga also issued coins that pictured small crosses.

Katanga's flag during its period of independence

Katanga’s flag during its period of independence

Some local currencies like the copper crosses were of great interest to foreigners (settlers or merchants). Anxious to have control over the local currency, they tried to take it back for their own profit. The crosses were mainly used during the 19th century by the big Arab merchants on the trade channels right over to Kenya, on the east coast of Africa.

Laura Pleuger
Museum Guide

  • Coquet M., “De l’anthropologie de l’art”, in Journal des africanistes, tome 65, fascicule 2, 1995, p.229.
  • Kuhn G. & Rabus B., Geld ist, was gilt, München, Staatliche Münzsammlung München, 2009, p.38.
  • Lekime F., Katanga pays du cuivre, Verviers, Gérard, 1966, 208 p.
  • Rivallain J., “Paléomonnaies africaines: formes et fonctions. Actualité scientifique.” in Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 82, n°9, 1985, pp.265-269.
  • Rivallain J., “Monnaies d’Afrique: visions africaines et visions européennes”, in Revue numismatique, 6ème série, tome 157, 2001, pp.121-130.

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updated 2/4/2009 8:20:20 AM ET 2009-02-04T13:20:20

The Senate voted Tuesday to give a tax break to new car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag edging above $900 billion.

  1. Other political news of note
    1. Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'

      House Speaker John Boehner became animated Tuesday over the proposed Keystone Pipeline, castigating the Obama administration for not having approved the project yet.

    2. Budget deficits shrinking but set to grow after 2015
    3. Senate readies another volley on unemployment aid
    4. Obama faces Syria standstill
    5. Fluke files to run in California

The 71-26 vote came as President Barack Obama said he lies awake nights worrying about the economy and signaled he'll try to knock out "buy American" provisions in the legislation to avoid a possible trade war.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski led the successful effort to allow many car buyers to claim an income tax deduction for sales taxes paid on new autos and interest payments on car loans.

She said the plan would aid the beleaguered automobile industry as well as create jobs at a time the economy is losing them at a rapid rate. "I believe we can help by getting the consumer into the showroom," she said.

Bill making its way through Congress
The provision was attached to the economic stimulus bill at the heart of Obama's economic recovery plan and is subject to change or even elimination as the measure makes its way toward final passage.

Democratic leaders have pledged to have the bill ready for his signature by mid-month, and in a round of network television interviews, the president underscored the urgency. He told CNN that even three months ago, most economists would not have predicted the economy was "in as bad of a situation as we are in right now."

He also spoke out against efforts to require the use of domestic steel in construction projects envisioned in the bill, telling Fox News, "we can't send a protectionist message."

The stimulus bill remains a work in progress, following last week's party-line vote in the House and an Oval Office meeting on Monday in which Obama and Democratic leaders discussed ways to reach across party lines.

In a series of skirmishes during the day, the Senate turned back a proposal to add $25 billion for public works projects and voted to remove a tax break for movie producers. Both moves were engineered by Republicans who are critical of the bill's size and voice skepticism of its ability to create jobs.

But several hours later, without explanation, GOP conservatives abruptly dropped their opposition to a $6.5 billion increase in research funding for the politically popular National Institutes of Health.

Even so, Democratic leaders conceded they may soon be obliged to cut billions of dollars from the measure. "It goes without saying if it's going to pass in the Senate, it has to be bipartisan," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader, adding that rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties want the bill's cost reduced.

One Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, said he hoped for reductions "in the tens of billions of dollars."

More companies announcing layoffs
The developments unfolded as more companies announced job layoffs — including 5,800 at PNC Financial Services Group. In another sign of economic weakness, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation predicted the cost of bank failures will exceed its estimate from last fall and urged lawmakers to more than triple the agency's line of credit with the Treasury Department to $100 billion from the current $30 billion.

Mikulski's office put the cost of the tax break she sponsored at $11 billion over 10 years. It would apply to the first $49,500 in the price of a new car purchased between last Nov. 12 and Dec. 31, 2009. Individuals with incomes of up to $125,000 and couples earnings as much as $250,000 could qualify, including those who do not itemize their deductions. A couple would save an estimated $1,553 on a new $25,000 car, aides said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sought unsuccessfully to derail the proposal, saying it would only increase consumer debt in a time of recession and adding that there were other provisions in the legislation to help the auto industry. But the 71 votes in support were far more than the 60 needed for passage.

Earlier, the vote to add $25 billion for new construction on highways, mass transit and water treatment facilities failed 58-38, two short of the 60-vote majority needed for passage.

GOP to seek vote later this week
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., argued the increase would quickly translate into jobs.

"Our highways are jammed. People go to work in gridlock," Feinstein said in arguing for the proposal.

But Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., countered, "We can't add to the size of this bill. ... The amount is just inconceivable to most people."

Stimulus plan  Sen. Tom Coburn led the successful effort to remove a provision allowing movie makers to write off their expenses more quickly. The vote was 52-45, despite protests from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. He said Hollywood was the only industry denied the break in a tax bill two years ago.

Republicans are expected to seek a vote later in the week on a plan to inject the government into the mortgage industry in an attempt to drive down the cost of mortgages to as low as 4 percent. Democrats treaded carefully on the proposal, saying they would consider it but also claiming the $300 billion Republicans allocated would not come close to accommodating the demand.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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PoliticsNation, Monday, November 28, 2011

Read the transcript from the Monday show

  Most Popular
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Guests: Richard Wolffe, Erin McPike, Perry Bacon, Dana Milbank, Bob
Franken, Sherrod Brown, Alan Grayson

I`m Al Sharpton. We start tonight with breaking news, another explosive
allegation against Herman Cain. An Atlanta businesswoman is claiming she
had a 13-year affair with him. At this hour, Ginger White is making
allegations on a local TV station in Atlanta. Moments ago the station
posted this clip of their interview.

It wasn`t complicated. And I was aware that he was married. And I was
also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation,

SHARPTON: Inappropriate relationship. We`ll have more from that
interview as it comes in this hour. Herman Cain himself spoke out earlier
this afternoon, preemptively denying the story.

HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did not have an affair,
OK? And until I see and hear exactly what`s going to be -- what the
accusations are going to be made, let`s move on. But I acknowledge that I
knew the woman. I acknowledge that I`ve known her for about that period of
time. But the accusation that I had a 13-year affair with her, no.
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SHARPTON: NBC has not confirmed the woman`s story. Herman Cain
married his wife, Gloria, back in 1968. This latest allegation comes after
several other women accused Cain of sexual harassment. He denied those
charges but has seen his poll numbers plummet in the following weeks.

Joining me is Richard Wolffe, MSNBC political analyst and author of
"Renegade, the Making of a President" Perry Bacon, who covers the White
House for the "Washington Post" and Erin McPike, a reporter for Real Clear
Politics. Thanks to you all for joining me tonight. Richard, let`s cut to
the chase. If this is true, how serious is this for the Cain campaign?

race under any circumstances. He can carry on until he loses the last
primary. But it will take his support down to the low single digits. He`s
currently about 15 points in the poll, which is pretty significant when you
consider that Mitt Romney is only in the low 20s. So there`s a lot of Cain
supporters out there who could come in play. Whether or not it`s true at
some point, and we`ve seen it in his polls already, there`s so much smoke,
whether or not there`s fire is kind of irrelevant. The smoke just engulfs
this candidate.

Now, Erin, Mr. Cain also said this, explaining the relationship with
the new accuser --

CAIN: Trying to help a friend because not having a job, et cetera,
and this sort of thing. That`s all there is to the relationship. And here
again, I don`t know what`s going to be claimed in the story. It was
someone who was supposed to be a friend, but obviously they didn`t see it
as a friendship.

SHARPTON: Now, he`s trying to get ahead of the story by going on
earlier before it came out. Was that smart or not, Erin?

ERIN MCPIKE, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: It depends on what there is. If it
comes that there are pictures or hotel receipts or text messages of some
kind that prove him wrong, he`s in trouble. He should have gotten out in
front of the story before if he knew this was coming. And Gingrich has
affairs in his past, but we knew about them. So people don`t seem to care
about Gingrich`s past as much. But Cain, these accusations are new. If we
see some evidence, he`s in trouble.

SHARPTON: Perry, Mr. Cain`s attorney just released this statement.
Let me show you to it you. And he says "This is not an accusation of
harassment in the workplace. This is not an accusation of an assault,
which are subject matters of legitimate inquiry to a political candidate.
Rather this appears to be an accusation of private, alleged, consensual
conduct between adults, a subject matter which is not a proper subject of
inquiry by the media or the public. No individual, whether a private
citizen, a candidate for public office, or a public official, should be
questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public`s right to
know and the media`s right to report has boundaries, and most certainly
those boundaries are outside of one`s bedroom door."

The difference with this accuser, Perry, is that it is not accusing
sexual harassment or assault or abuse of power. It would be true in
infidelity. Is the lawyer right that it`s none of the public`s business?

PERRY BACON, "WASHINGTON POST": The public gets to choose who they
vote for and why. The public criticism, we can choose what to cover and
maybe he`s right about that, but the public can decide if they want to vote
for you if they trust you or they don`t trust you. I don`t think he gets
to decide that.

The other problem with the statement is he seems -- when I read that
statement I thought he seemed to almost confirm something happened versus
Herman Cain strongly denying it. Those statements -- what Herman Cain and
what the lawyer said earlier I thought are in some tension with each other.
One is saying it doesn`t matter and the other saying it didn`t happen.
Those are not consistent views.

SHARPTON: Well, it goes back to you, Richard, you`re saying it`s a
lot of smoke. I and others may argue because we`ve argued it when it has
been Democrats or liberals that personal life is personal life. But I
think the problem here is that it`s accusation, accusation, four
accusations of assault and then this. Maybe if it was only this, it would
be a different matter.

WOLFFE: Well, look, let me rephrase something I said earlier. The
truth does matter if you can prove that other people have been telling
lies. Unfortunately, Herman Cain has not been able to do that in these
previous circumstances.

And moreover, just take that lawyer`s statement. One of the weakest
defenses is to say what is appropriate for press to ask about or not.
Let`s remember. This is a candidate who has not left politics outside the
bedroom door. He has voiced many opinions on sexual activities when it
comes to lesbian and gays. He doesn`t say that there`s a limit to privacy
for those people and yet he`s claiming one -- or his lawyer is claiming one
for himself. That`s a double standard at the very least, and at the very
worst it`s hypocrisy. And many social conservatives may wonder what kind
of social conservative he really is.

SHARPTON: I think that`s a fair statement, Perry. Once owe open up
the door for anyone, you open it up for everyone. And clearly that has
been the case of what`s happened in the past with the right so-called
moralists. They open the door to people`s personal life -- you can`t jump
personal when it comes to yours.

BACON: Exactly. The other thing is, reverend, you may have thought
Bill Clinton should stay in office. But lots of Republicans thought he
should leave office. Lots of Republicans do care about things in the
bedroom. The people who will be voting for Herman Cain or against him do
care about moral behavior and this kind of thing. And I think they can
vote on whatever they choose to. I think some of them have already
expressed concerns about the previous sexual harassment and they are going
to be concerned about rumors of affairs. Whether Herman Cain or his lawyer
like or not, they do happen to care about these things.

SHARPTON: There will also be, as I said at the beginning, the
inconsistencies or the misleading, whatever one does or doesn`t do, if you
mislead people, then you have raised another question. A fish wouldn`t get
caught if he kept his mouth shut.

Erin, talking about opening their mouth, we have more from this latest
accuser, Ms. Ginger White. Listen to her stating why she came forward at
this time.

WHITE: I wanted to come out and give my side before it was thrown out
there and made out to be something filthy, which some people will look at
this and say, well, that`s exactly what it is. He made it very intriguing.
It was fun. It was something that took me away from my sort of humdrum
life at the time. And it was exciting.

SHARPTON: So she said she wanted to come out before in the course of
the race someone brought it out and made it something distasteful, or she
used another term. Erin, how do you respond to that?

MCPIKE: Well, if she`s telling the truth and it was a 13-year affair,
it`s presumable that friends of hers or people around both of them knew
about it. And if that`s the case, maybe some of them were leaking it to
the press.

It`s true, there are rumors going about Herman Cain and the media is
always trying to get to the bottom of rumors they hear about national
politicians. If that`s the case, someone was going to come out with the
story, she wanted to be first and clear her name somewhat. Not that it`s
totally clearing her name. She`s admitting to a 13-year affair. But that
tells you that it might have been coming out anyway.

SHARPTON: Now, the thing that bothers a lot of us is that this
distracts from the serious issues affecting the country. Here we are
dealing with the economic inequality, jobs, the fact that they are voting
this week on the extension of the unemployment in terms of the taxes and
extension of that. And here we are again in the middle of some private
sexual scandal.

Then we see that there are legitimate policy attacks on the other
candidates. The Democrats came out with an ad this weekend on Mitt Romney
that dealt more with his policy flip-flops, Richard. Let me show you where
the DNC came out with an ad on Willard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the creator of "I`m running for office for
Pete`s sake" comes the story of two men trapped in one body -- Mitt versus

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will preserve and protect
a woman`s right to choose.

The right next step is to see Roe V Wade overturned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two Mitts willing to say anything.

ROMNEY: We put together an exchange and the president is copying that
idea. I`m glad to hear that.

Obamacare is bad news.

SHARPTON: Now, so we`ve got the Democratic Party putting an ad out,
two men trapped in one body, Mitt versus Mitt, Willard versus Willard.
Richard, how effective is that?

WOLFFE: It`s very cute. It`s got a sense of humor. By the way, they
had three or four minutes of this stuff straight out of the gate. There is
so much of this material out there for Romney.

There`s no secret, the Obama campaign, Democrats in general have been
very frustrated at what they see of the malpractice the Republican
candidates have been inflicted on the nation here by not doing this stuff
themselves against Mitt Romney. They have given him a free pass.
Democrats want to say this case is too easy to make and they don`t want to
sit on the sidelines.

All of this stuff is his own words, by the way, in context. It`s not
out of context. It`s in context against himself. And I think it`s very
powerful for Republicans as they look to see who is the authentic, true
politician they want to have as their nominee.

Richard Wolffe, Perry Bacon and Erin McPike, thank you for joining me
tonight. You stay with us. We will give you more on the breaking news on
the accuser against Herman Cain and the Herman Cain reality show. And I`ll
give you some American reality, a mixture. The gloves are off. The new
frontrunner, Newt Gingrich, attacked Willard today.

Plus, nothing is sacred when it comes to Republicans but death, taxes,
and hypocrisy on taxes. I can`t believe they`re saying it with a straight

And lawmakers come and go. But few transform America the way
Congressman Barney Frank has. He announced his retirement today. We`ve
got a highlight reel you don`t want to miss.

You`re watching POLITICSNATION on MSNBC.

SHARPTON: Welcome back. We`re following this breaking story on a new
accuser on Republican candidate Herman Cain and his denial. Joining me now
is Dana Milbank, a political reporter for the "Washington Post" and Bob
Franken of "King Features" syndicated columnist. Tomorrow his column will
be about Newt`s rise to the top. Thanks for both of you being here.

I know that both of you join me in wanting to talk about what`s really
happening in the country and what`s going on with the people. But as this
story has breaking news, it does speak to the honesty or dishonesty and
transparency of someone who has chosen not to remain silent about it. How
damaging, if this is proven to be true and therefore making Cain`s denials
untrue, how damaging will this be in terms of his credibility, Dana?

DANA MILBANK, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, look, Reverend, the only
reason it may not be terribly damaging is because he`s already basically
politically dead. I think we`ve already got various nails in the coffin.
And this is just one more thump for this guy. We`ve been through one after
another of candidates rising and falling. They`ve moved on to the latest
flavor of the week. So this would have been devastating if he were still
really a contender.

SHARPTON: Bob, the new frontrunner, who you wrote about in your
column tomorrow, has survived allegations like this, though he`s probably
handled them better. How does this now position him? Is it now a Romney-
Newt Gingrich race for the Republican nomination?

BOB FRANKEN, "KING FEATURES" COLUMNIST: Well, it certainly seems to
be -- that seems to be the current flavor. I will say, however, that
anytime anybody talks about these latest allegations about marital
infidelity on the part of Herman Cain, it splatters on Newt Gingrich,
because Dana is absolutely correct. He is handling it very proactively,
but everybody else is going to say, hey, wait a minute, what about Newt?

And I have some ambivalence about this. I have not written about that
at all as I`ve been covering Newt in the various columns, thinking there`s
other stuff to talk about. But if it`s out there, we`re certainly going to
have to talk about that. And arguably it`s the Republicans who started all
this when they went so hard after Bill Clinton.

SHARPTON: Let me, Dana, play you what Herman Cain has said about this
situation. Listen to this.

CAIN: I did not have an affair, OK? And until I see and hear exactly
what`s going to be -- what the accusations are going to be made, let`s move
on. But I acknowledge that I knew the woman. I acknowledge that I`ve
known her for about that period of time. But the accusation that I had a
13-year affair with her, no.

SHARPTON: So in your estimation, Dana, his denial is whatever it is.
But it doesn`t matter because you think he was politically finished anyway?

MILBANK: I think so, reverend. But he really brought this on
himself. You remember those absurdly sweeping denials -- "I`ve never done
anything appropriate with anybody at any time." So now he`s back to saying,
I didn`t have a 13-year affair with this particular woman. It was like he
created this Gary Hart situation for himself saying, and he said check it
all out, I`m clean, put a tail on him. That`s what`s happening here.

He`s gotten much further in this race, Herman Cain has, than he ever
expected to. He probably never expected to have this kind of scrutiny into
his private life because he figured people would never care.

SHARPTON: Bob, let me play a new sound bite from the interview with
Ms. White, the new accuser.

WHITE: I think it`s safe to say that after this interview we can
assume that that won`t be the end of it. But, yes, yes, we have a
friendship now. Never worked together. I can`t imagine phoning or texting
me for the late two-and-a-half years just because.

SHARPTON: Well, I don`t know what she says is over their friendship
or whatever, but Newt Gingrich, you`re writing about, you`re saying that
something will splash over on him. But let`s look at this graph showing
that Gingrich should have been dead this summer. In June, he was at 6.7
percent in the polls, went down to 4.9 percent in July. August, went up to
5.5 percent, September, up to 6.8 percent, October, 9.3 percent. Now he`s
at 23.8 percent. What happened, Bob?

FRANKEN: Well, we seem to have -- I think there`s a big hair thing
going on here. We have Mitt Romney, we have Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry,
Michele Bachmann. The only one without big hair who has been up there for
a little while was Herman Cain. But with the rest of them, it was hair
today and gone tomorrow.

But the problem here is that they`re running out of alternatives to
Mitt Romney. You`ve got this large number of Republicans who just don`t
like the man because they view him as a -- it`s the hated word, a moderate.

Now, Dana, when you look at four -- not one, not two, but four
national polls has Newt Gingrich beating Mitt Romney, I mean 26-22, 24-20,
22-21, 23-22. Across the board, he is winning against Mitt Romney in four
national polls. This is an amazing occurrence for someone that was written
off by all of the wise political observers just a couple of months ago.

MILBANK: It sure is, reverend. And we`ve seen something like this
with John McCain. But this isn`t John McCain. When I look at Newt
Gingrich leading in the polls, it tells me that the Republican primary
process has become some sort of a mass suicide movement. I mean, it is
just so hard to imagine the Republicans giving this gift to a very
vulnerable President Obama.

As you were discussing with Bob, we`ve got the family values party
getting involved with this guy who`s on his third marriage. You have got
the cut the budget party dealing with this guy who`s got all these problems
with Tiffany`s and cruising the Greek islands. And you have this anti-
Washington party rallying behind this ultimate Washington insider who`s
received millions from special interest groups. It just boggles the mind
that he could actually come out of this as the nominee. But I`m sure
nothing would delight President Obama more.

SHARPTON: But Bob, you have to admit that Mr. Gingrich has been a
different frontrunner than his proceeding flavors of the month. He`s come
out fighting. Look at how he ripped into Willard today. Watch this.

perfect candidate. I just claim to be a lot more conservative than Mitt
Romney and a lot more electable than anybody else. I wouldn`t lie to the
American people. I wouldn`t switch my positions for political reasons.

It`s wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based
on your need of any one election. Because then people have to ask
themselves, what will you tell me next time? I never take polls to figure
out where I stand.

SHARPTON: I never take polls to figure out where I stand, I`ll never
lie to the American people. This is today on a radio station in South
Carolina. Those are pretty, pretty harsh terms and references to the
former frontrunner, wouldn`t you say, Bob?

FRANKEN: Well, I would, in addition to which it`s a bit ludicrous
coming from Newt Gingrich who`s been accused of being somebody who has a
position of the minute kind of way of looking at things. The one example I
remember so vividly was what he was first advocating that the United States
should take action of a certain sort in Libya. Then the United States took
that action and he immediately criticized it. And then you recall he
criticized President Obama for his changing positions. Newt Gingrich is
somebody who is frequently accused of being a worshiper of political
expedience. So I think that he may have some problems when he tries to pin
on Mitt Romney the flip-flopping label.

SHARPTON: Now, Dana, how important is the fact that the "Union
Leader," a major newspaper, if not the major newspaper in New Hampshire,
came out today in support of Newt Gingrich?

MILBANK: Right, it is a big surprise, reverend, in part because
Romney so far had in New Hampshire. But, of course, this paper went
against Romney the last time around. It has the potential to shake up the
race. And I think we in the newspaper business think we`re a little bit
more important than we actually are.

But even if Gingrich can perform very solidly out there in Iowa and
get close to if not actually defeat Romney in New Hampshire, he`s going to
be in a very solid position getting to South Carolina. But, again, I have
to believe that the Republicans are going to come to their senses and not
let that happen.

SHARPTON: Well, Dana, I think you`re right. But, Bob, I think that -
- you know, as one who went on the education tour with Newt Gingrich that
President Obama had set up, Newt Gingrich-President Obama debate would be
interesting, more interesting than the rest of the guys on that stage

FRANKEN: It would be. You`d have somebody who would like to position
himself as even smarter than Barack Obama. As for that endorsement from
the "Union Leader," I think that that`s quite significant because this is
Mr. Romney`s neighborhood. This is where he was pinning his hopes on
getting a momentum going because he probably realizes that he`s not going
to do very well in Iowa. So if he gets the wind knocked out of his sails
in New Hampshire, I think that that`s a big deal.

SHARPTON: Dana Milbank and Bob Franken, thanks for coming on the show

MILBANK: Thanks, reverend.

SHARPTON: Ahead, corporations` profits are booming as middle class
wages free fall -- more fuel for the Occupy movement and more proof there
is class warfare by the rich.

SHARPTON: Bashing the environmental protection agency has become as
republican as Ronald Reagan. And tax cuts for the rich. Hear what the GOP
loves to say about the agency that keeps our water and air clear.

EPA and the direction they`re heading with their numerous regulations are
going to cripple our economy.

rules that are grinding our economy to a halt.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: One of the chief offenders is EPA.

really be renamed the job-killing organization of America.

SHARPTON: The EPA should be renamed the job-killing organization of
America? I don`t think so. New data shows regulations on the coal
industry aren`t killing jobs. They`re creating them. There are currently
more than 90,000 coal jobs in the United States. That`s the highest number
of coal jobs since 1996. In fact, specific EPA regulations seem to be
helping to create jobs. In 2009, the EPA issued new rules for mountaintop
coal mining, a practice that has been linked to contaminated water supplies
and damaged property. Since then, the number of coal jobs in Appalachia
has increased by 10 percent. So, if these EPA rules are killing jobs, why
are more people working in the coal industry? Hey, GOP! You should be
congratulating the EPA as a jobs creator. Did Republicans think we
wouldn`t notice their faulty logic? Nice try, guys. But we got you.

SHARPTON: Welcome back to the show. Sometimes something happens in
politics that just brings total clarity to an issue. It happened to the
Republicans over the weekend. And just like that, their total hypocrisy on
taxes and fairness in this country was revealed for what it is. In an Op-
ed this weekend, Senator John Kyle and other Republicans wrote that raising
taxes is, quote, "the wrong medicine for our ailing economy." OK, I get
that, raising taxes is bad, OK. But the very next day, they broke my
hypocrisy meter. Here`s what that same Senator Kyl said in an interview.

CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": Are you saying, no deal on
extending payroll tax cuts?

SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: The payroll tax holiday has not stimulated
job creation. We don`t think that is a good way to do it.

SHARPTON: Let`s see. Most Republicans were for payroll tax cuts when
they helped extend the Bush tax cuts last December. In fact, 138
Republicans signed on to extend them as did 37 Senate Republicans. But
now, Republicans are in favor of letting the average American family loses
out on payroll tax cuts worth $1,300 a year. That`s good medicine? No.
That`s a tax increase on middle class Americans. I thought tax increases
were the wrong medicine? I don`t think I`m the only one who finds that
total hypocrisy. And Republicans, you owe me a new hypocrisy meter.

Joining me now, Senator Sherrod Brown, democrat from Ohio. Senator,
thanks for coming on the show tonight.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: Thank you, Reverend Sharpton. And that
hypocrisy meter is working overtime, isn`t it?

SHARPTON: Yes, I`m trying to get a repair. This one was off the
chain. I mean, am I missing something? Is this just one or more blatant
disregard for the good of the middle class?

BROWN: Yes, I mean, you know, one thing we should be able to work
together on, Republicans and Democrats is cutting taxes for working
families and creating jobs. Yet, if there`s a choice between tax cuts for
the rich and anything else -- if anything else is infrastructure, if
anything else is hiring teachers, if anything else is cutting taxes or
refusing to raise taxes on middle income working families, people making
$20,000, $50,000 or $100,000 a year, then the Republicans always choose tax
breaks for people making over $1 million a year. Meaning, it`s pretty
simple as you say. In the end, they always come down for their wealthiest
benefactors for people making a million or two million or five million
dollars a year. And the public`s on to it.

I mean, when you hear John Kyl on those Sunday morning shows saying,
you know, we can`t ever cut taxes, we can`t ever raise taxes on the rich,
that will cost us jobs. But when it comes to some guy making $30,000 a
year, if you raise his taxes or $1,400 per family in Ohio on the average,
you know that hurts the economy because it`s money they`re not putting into
the economy for Christmas presents for their kids or going out once a month
for dinner or buying books for their kid in college. I mean, all of that`s
so clear. We need to generate more economic activity, not give more tax
cuts for rich people who basically just put it away and don`t spend it and
put it in the economy.

SHARPTON: Well, rich people that they call job creators even though
we can`t find the jobs they`re creating. But let me ask you this, Senator.
When we talk about it and certainly $1,300 a family is a lot of money to a
working family, but collectively, this was in "The Washington Post." This
would impact a 0.5 percent of the economy. So collectively, we`re talking
about a real hit in terms of the economy, 400,000 jobs by the end of 2012.
This is serious.

BROWN: Yes, it`s real serious. I was -- and you know, it`s this.
It`s the tax increase that the Republicans are going to force by filibuster
on working families. It`s also their opposition to extending unemployment
benefits. I was just at the Nestle Corporation, which is a Stouffer`s
corporation owned by Nestle, makes lean cuisine and all in Cleveland today.
And I was talking to a couple of workers who had been laid off for a couple
of years. One guy said, I`d never been laid off in my life, I was laid off
for a year. You know, I said, did you come back to work with a lot of
debt? And he said, not too much because I had unemployment benefits and he
said, I was able to keep my family`s head above water for that year. But,
you know, this is important. I mean, John Kyl, nice guy, you know, he`s
retiring, he`s not a bad guy. But everything to him is about tax cuts for
the rich. He ought to come to Cleveland and talk to some of these Nestle`s
workers or walk around, talk to people laid off and.

SHARPTON: Which is why.

BROWN: .find out what they`re thinking.

SHARPTON: Which is Senator, when you look at the polls, you`ve got
support on both sides of the political spectrum among the people. Fifty
six percent of Republicans say they support taxing millionaires. These are

SHARPTON: Fifty eight percent support extending the payroll tax cut.
Fifty eight percent. I mean, it`s not even politically wise what they`re

BROWN: Well, it is politically wise when the people you talk to at
the country club, your closest friends, your best advisers, the people that
sit in the suites with you at Phoenix Suns games or wherever Senator Kyl
goes. Those people are, you know, are affected by tax cuts, by tax
increases for the rich.

SHARPTON: Well, let me show you how you`re right.

BROWN: These voters don`t think that.

SHARPTON: Let me show you how you`re right. When you look at this
graph of how they have gone overboard to protect a few millionaires as
opposed to the masses of the people, I mean, you have 235,000 millionaires
that they`re fighting to protect a tax hike. And if they extended its
payroll tax cut, it would help 160 million American people. So, they would
choose 235,000 people to give their energy to, their effort to, over 160
million Americans. I mean, that is obscene.

BROWN: But not to be cynical about this. Those 235,000 millionaires,
I would guess, in the scale of who contributes to Republican Senate
campaigns, my guess is those 235,000 millionaires give more than 160
million working families that are going this tax -- that they`re going to
raise taxes on if they filibuster our efforts this week.

SHARPTON: Well, I don`t think you were being cynical. I think you`re
making an educated guess.

BROWN: Perhaps.

SHARPTON: Senator Sherrod Brown.

BROWN: My pleasure, thanks Al.

SHARPTON: Thanks for coming on the show tonight and thank you for
continuing the fight.

BROWN: Thank you.

SHARPTON: Up next, Washington moved heaven and earth to bail out the
banks. But the middle class has been left high and dry. We`ll talk to
former Congressman Alan Grayson about why Wall Street made billions while
the American people were getting squeezed.

Also, the Barney Frank highlight reel, how the legendary lawmaker used
his razor-sharp wit to fight for justice over three decades in Congress.
Stay with us.

SHARPTON: You want to see what progress in this country looks like?
Last year, the top office of the marine`s General James F. Amos issued a
dire warning about the repeal of the "Don`t Ask, Don`t Tell" policy.

implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual marines into the
tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for
disruption at the small unit level.

SHARPTON: But now that policy is gone. General Amos sees a new
reality. He says soldiers are adapting well. Gays and lesbians serving
openly in the military. Quote, "I`m very pleased with how it has gone."
So the repeal of "Don`t Ask, Don`t Tell" is working. Officials worried
when the military desegregated. They`re worried when women started
serving. And they worried what gays openly serving. You know what this is
called? Progress.

SHARPTON: We`re back with new signs that the Occupy Wall Street
movement isn`t going anywhere. Today in Los Angeles and Philadelphia,
occupiers are refusing to leave their tent cities, despite warnings and
arrests by police across the country, they`re demanding fairness.

SHARPTON: Today we`re learning just how huge that bailout was, a new
Bloomberg report revealed that secret fed loans helped banks rake in $13
billion in income while they were getting rescued by taxpayers. Wall
Street is doing great. But what about Main Street? A new report reveals
that one in five Americans have been economically insecure in the last
three years. And take a look at these graphs. Since 1960, corporate
profits have always been about six percent of GDP, sometimes a little
higher, sometimes a little lower. But in the last three years, corporate
profits have soared past 10 percent for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, look at the wages, the money that real people are taking
home. That`s at an all-time low, slowly dropping to 44 percent. This is
the real class warfare in America. And Republicans are fighting to make
sure corporations and the rich are the ones who win.

Joining me now is former Congressman Alan Grayson, democrat from
Florida, now running again. Congressman, thanks for being here. Where`s
the urgency for Main Street bailout, Mr. Grayson?

REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: Well, there hasn`t been in. And
that`s the sad part of it. It`s been three years since the banks got
bailed out to the tune of $16 trillion directly from the Fed and another
$10 trillion lent to foreign central banks and then from there to foreign
institutions. So a total of $26 trillion and that doesn`t even count the
bailouts to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and all the rest that went
individually. That`s huge amounts of money. We`re talking about almost
$100,000 per person in America for every man, woman and child in America.

SHARPTON: Almost $100,000 per person?

GRAYSON: That`s right. And nothing for the middle class.

SHARPTON: I want to walk through this slowly so people understand
this. These banks were getting these huge bailouts, according to this
Bloomberg report, first payment like $1.2 trillion, while they were still
fighting regulations. So they were having it both ways. Getting bailed
out while they were keeping their levels down in terms of deregulation?

GRAYSON: They call them loans but they took the worst assets, the
garbage assets there on the books of institutions like Citibank and they
pushed them over in the general direction of the Fed, didn`t even give them
control of those assets, called it collateral and they lent out trillions
of dollars at an interest rate of 0.01 percent. Not one percent. But 0.01
percent. Where can I get a deal like that? Where can you get a deal like
that? It looks like if you`re not a Wall Street bank, you`re screwed.

SHARPTON: Now, when you look at the fact that many on the right were
making all kinds of tax and claims about the TARP money, well, let`s look
at this that we get from Bloomberg. $7.77 trillion Fed loans to banks.
Only $700 billion to TARP. What are we talking about? So while $700
billion went to TARP that had some commitments had to be made, some
collections, we had these loans in the trillions, over $7 trillion in loans
with no strings attached that went to banks that they didn`t complain
about, stop or put in check?

GRAYSON: No, this is the way the Fed has done business. And I`m
grateful that I was able to join with Congressman Ron Paul to get this
exposed. The Fed have deliberately held these loans in secret because they
said, if we tell people who`s getting these loans, they won`t have any
faith in those institutions anymore. As if that some kind of excuse for
covering up what you do with taxpayer money. But in fact because I joined
with Ron Paul and got the audit, the Fed bill passed, now we can finally
find out what happened to all this money and who got it. And frankly, when
I look down the list, I see all sorts of names I don`t even recognize.
Dexia, a bank in Belgium, got over $100 million. Who is Dexia? Why they
should they got a $100 billion of our money. I don`t understand that.
Neither does anybody else. But the Fed pushed it out to anybody who seemed
to need it, as long that you are on Wall Street, they took care of you.

SHARPTON: Who is Dexia? They`re people in Belgium who got $100
million of our money.

SHARPTON: I mean, this is absolutely absurd. But let me tell you
when you hear your outrage on Dexia and others that got this money pushed
out by the Fed, I`m sure the Republicans would be outraged, but look at
where they`re taken their anger. Look at who they`re talking about. Watch

MITT ROMNEY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Corporations are people, my

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Can you raise your hand if you`d feel so
strongly about not raising taxes, you`d walk away on a 10 to one deal.

BACHMANN: Our biggest problem right now is our regulatory burden.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: If we keep taxing our job creators a
lot more than our foreign competitors taxpayers, they win, we lose.

BOEHNER: We are not going to engage in class warfare. The
president`s out there is doing it every day. I frankly think it`s
unfortunate. The top one percent pay 38 percent of the income taxes in
America. You know, how much more they want to pay?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: When you pick one area of
the economy and say, we`re going to tax those people because most people
are not those people, that`s class warfare.

RYAN: Sowing social unrest and class resentment makes America weaker,
not stronger.

SHARPTON: Are we in parallel universes? I mean, when you look at the
facts and then you hear what they`re saying, it`s almost like we`re on
different planets.

GRAYSON: The one thing you can always count on is that the Republican
Party leadership will always kiss up to the rich, every single time. But
who do the ordinary people in America have to turn to? It`s only the
Democratic Party. I`ve said this before and I`ll say it again. You have
only three friends in life, God, your mama and the Democratic Party.
That`s it.

SHARPTON: Congressman, thanks to you for your time tonight. We`ll be
right back with the greatest hits of the great Barney Frank.

SHARPTON: Welcome back. Lawmakers come and go, but every now and
again, one comes along who truly changes America. That`s what
Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank has done. At a press conference
today, he said after 40 years of service in government, he`s retiring at
the end of next year. In true Barney Frank fashion, he went out fighting
Republicans with a smile.

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: One of the advantages to me of
not running for office is, I don`t even have to pretend to try to be nice
to people I don`t like. Now, some of you may not think I`ve been good at
it. But I`ve been trying.

SHARPTON: Congressman Frank has been a frequent guest on our show and
he never fails to both enlighten and entertain us.

FRANK: On what planet do you spend most of your time?

Ma`am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to
argue with a dining room table. Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will
punish the country. I`m making an offer. Give me those 12 people`s names
and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them.

She is apparently going to be the republican nomination by default.
And I guess it`s by default -- it`s default of Newt Gingrich and it`s
default of Herman Cain and everybody else`s fault. Never has the
willingness of the minority to abuse the process of purely political ends
been clearer than today. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker, does whining
come out of my time?

This is why Americans don`t trust the government.

This is why your stupidity gets in the way of rational discussion.

Poor Newt is just beside himself. He thought he was a great gift to
the country. And he finds himself being taken back to the return window,
not at Tiffany`s I guess and he can`t deal with it.

SHARPTON: Here at POLITICS NATION and across the country, we would
truly miss his bright sense of humor and his deep sense of justice. He was
the first openly gay member of Congress and a champion for civil rights.
He led the fight for the biggest overall of banking and financial industry
since the depression. And long before Occupy Wall Street, he was fighting
harder than anyone else for fairness. Thank God he`s still with us. He`s
still alive. And he will still, I`m sure, be in public somewhere fighting
because fighters never stop. They just change the ring they`re fighting
in. Stay in the ring, Barney, because we still have a lot of fight left to

Thanks for watching. I`m Al Sharpton. "HARDBALL" starts right now.

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updated 9/10/2014 1:15:12 AM ET 2014-09-10T05:15:12

No matter how streamlined your marketing campaigns are, boosting conversions should be top of your daily to-do list. Once an advertising campaign works, companies tend to neglect testing different variables to improve their conversion rates. Here is a list of the 10 tests you cannot afford to miss.

1. Identify the unique selling propositions (USPs) that convert the most. All of your products or services have strong selling points but not of equal importance to your customers. Test all USPs in your ads, prominent placements of the site and social media to figure out which of these improve your conversion rate the most. Once you find the best unique selling propositions, you will be able to plan your communication strategy in a way that maximizes customer acquisition.

Related: The 3 Most Important Online Marketing Metrics to Monitor

2. Landing page design. You can test the landing page design in two separate phases. Phase one consists of testing several page designs in order to find the one that appeals most to your target customer. Try comparing image versus content based pages.

Phase two consists of applying changes to the top performing design in order to test how different versions of the same page affect the success of your website. You should focus the majority of your time on the top section of the page.

3. Landing page calls to action. The majority of marketers decide what call to action to use based on the answer to the question: what do I want customers to do on my page? However, clever marketers would rather answer another question: what is the action customers can take on my page that will maximize profits? Testing calls to action will have a significant impact on your bottom line.

4. Landing page text. Make sure to test the positioning of text: where do you place the testimonials? Where are you going to analyze your benefits and features? What headlines will you use at the top of the page to maximize visitor interest? Use metrics such as sales and average time on site to evaluate the performance of your pages.

Related: How to 'Split Test' Your Website to Engage Online Customers Better

5. Mobile vs desktop traffic return-on-investment. Mobile and desktop traffic are likely to convert at a different rate. Compare how much marketing budget you are spending on each device with what you are getting in return and then decrease the budget of the least profitable.

6. Pause traffic sources based on bounce rate and average time on site. Analyze the quality of incoming traffic from each of your marketing channels and decide which are not worth targeting due to low average time on site and high bounce rate. You can then reallocate the budget to those channels with a higher conversion rate.

7. Adding a chat button. Many of your website visitors might prefer to discuss business before jumping on a call or buying a product. Installing a chat on your site is relatively inexpensive and will give you one more way to convert visitors into leads.

8. Customize landing pages for top performing geographic areas. Where are your sales coming from? Identify the most profitable geographic areas and create dedicated pages offering local deals (e.g. free shipping in New York.)

9. Conversion rate of returning users. Invest in users that have visited your site, spent enough time on it but did not convert. They are likely to be interested in your offer but prefer to compare all available products first. Create campaigns to target past website visitors and test different offers and/or unique selling propositions to incentivize sales.

10. The checkout process. Create a smooth and fast checkout process to avoid missing out on potential customers when they are ready to convert. Test guest checkouts, short billing information forms and one-step checkout pages!

Testing is the best way to improve the conversion rate of any site. While there are numerous methods you can test, the ten elements above are a great starting point. This process is neither easy nor quick but it is worth investing the time to benefit your business long term.

Related: 12 Ways to Increase Online Sales

Related Book: Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords

Copyright © 2013, Inc.

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text:
“Truth alone will honor what I've been or done.” That reflection is drawn from the poignant poem “At My Gravesite,” which was published in “Courage at Three AM,” a book of poetry by noted psychotherapist Richard Sipe. There is an eerie truth to the poem: Sipe's extensive research into the roots of clerical abuse, it seems, was not regarded seriously by the bishops and Vatican officials he tried to warn.

Sipe, a former Benedictine priest and a noted expert on the roots of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, died of multiple organ failure on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at his home in La Jolla, California. As the strains of Gregorian chant accompanied him on his journey into eternity, his wife Marianne, a former nun, kept vigil at his bedside.

Sipe's full name was Aquinas Walter Richard Sipe. His first name, Aquinas, was given to him when he became a Benedictine monk, and after he sought laicization 18 years later, he no longer used it. As a certified mental health counselor, Sipe specialized in the mental health problems of Catholic priests, including criminal sexual abuse. In the mid-1960s, he began an ethnographic study of the sexual behavior of supposed celibates; the report, which was released in 1990, claimed that more than half of the priests he studied had been or were currently involved in sexual relationships.

Sipe taught at major Catholic seminaries and colleges, lectured in medical schools, and served as a consultant and expert witness in numerous civil and criminal cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. He believed, based on his research, that only half of American priests were practicing celibacy at any one time. He once calculated that 6 percent of priests are pedophiles. He published four books and numerous articles on the subject of priestly abuse; he provided critical background support to the Boston Globe journalists who broke the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002, and his work was featured in a major film about the Church abuse crisis, “Spotlight.”

Sipe Reaches Out to Bishop McElroy

In July 2016, more than a decade after the clergy abuse crisis first broke in the United States, Richard Sipe wrote a long letter to Bishop Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego. In it he referenced a personal meeting which had occurred in Bishop McElroy's office, and acknowledged that the bishop had indicated he wanted no further contact with Sipe, that he had no time in his schedule either now or “in the foreseeable future” for a personal meeting. “It was only after that,” Sipe claimed, “that I sent you a letter copied to my contacts in DC and Rome.”

Sipe expressed surprise and disappointment at the institutional resistance to his report. He spoke in detail of the consequences: “When men in authority – cardinals, bishops, rectors, abbots, confessors, professors  – are having or have had an unacknowledged-secret-active-sex-life under the guise of celibacy, an atmosphere of tolerance of behaviors within the system is made operative.”

Sipe went on to name several clergy who had, according to his reports, violated their vow of celibacy. He also cited Cardinal Mahony for failure to protect – and therefore, knowingly endangering – the children he was supposed to defend.

But one of the most serious charges leveled by Sipe was against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whose sexual advances had been reported by numerous seminarians and priests. Sipe reported that the victims of McCarrick's advances were reluctant to testify. “One priest,” he said, “was told by the chancery office, 'if you speak with the press we will crush you.'”

Sipe's letter, which is a follow-up to an earlier meeting, was dated July 28, 2016. However, a postscript indicates that the letter was hand-delivered on Aug. 30, 2016; so it would appear that once again, Sipe had received no response to his charges.

An Open Letter to Pope Benedict

But Richard Sipe's 2016 letter was not the first outreach to the hierarchy. Eight years earlier, he had written to the Holy Father himself.

Sipe had already established his reputation as an expert on clergy malfeasance when he published an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI in April 2008. The letter, as reported on numerous conservative websites, claims that the abuse crisis in the United States was systemic; as proof, he cited several examples from the Archdiocese of Washington, and from St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Most importantly, he reported that a number of seminarians at St. Mary's Pontifical Seminary in Baltimore had come to him with concerns about the behavior of then-bishop of Metuchen Theodore McCarrick. “I know the names,” he wrote,

...of at least four priests who have had sexual encounters with Cardinal McCarrick. I have documents and letters that record the firsthand testimony and eyewitness accounts of McCarrick, then archbishop of Newark, New Jersey actually having sex with a priest, and at other times subjecting a priest to unwanted sexual advances.

He concluded, “Your Holiness, I submit this to you with urgent concern for our Church, especially for the young and our clergy.”

Is it possible that this cautionary letter was never really sent to Pope Benedict, but was rather created by malefactors who sought to damage the Catholic Church or the priesthood? A careful online search failed to turn up the original document, but Richard Sipe had reposted on his own website an article from CWNews dated April 21, 2008, titled “Church Critic 'Outs' American Cardinal.” That article quoted Sipe's open letter, confirming its legitimacy.

So Why Did Church Leaders Refuse to Act on Sipe's Charges?

Why would religious leaders willingly overlook the sexual sins of clergy in their dioceses? I can think of several possible reasons:

They didn't believe the accusations they were hearing, or they felt there was insufficient proof. Sipe may have seemed to them to be the bane of the bishops, an exasperating complainant who wouldn't take “no” for an answer.

They didn't care. Their myopic vision failed to take into account the wide-reaching effects of sexual sin, especially on the part of those who are entrusted with the good of souls. Perhaps the bishops' own sins clouded their judgment, but they missed the boat and failed to lead.

This is, in my estimation, the most likely cause: The bishops truly believed – wrongly, we now know – that by sweeping the scandals under the rug, they were acting in the best interests of the Church. However, in seeking to preserve the good reputation of the Church, they failed to protect the children entrusted to them, and failed to respect and safeguard the students, seminarians and priests who struggled against sexual aggression by those who should have been their spiritual leaders.

What's Next for the Church?

The year 2018 would appear to be a watershed year for the Catholic Church. The Catholic #MeToo movement has gained ground, emboldening victims of abuse to come forward and level their accusations without fear of reprisal. One member of the hierarchy, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, has resigned; others may follow. Finally scandalized beyond endurance, the Catholic faithful have risen up, demanding that miscreants among the clergy be held accountable, threatening to withhold their support. And sadly, one unfortunate side effect of the scandals may be that some, discouraged by the daily news, lose their faith and just walk away.

Richard Sipe has died; but finally, his warnings are being heeded. If he is able, from his perch in the hereafter, to look down upon the U.S. today, he may at long last see his research regarded as helpful, even integral to the long-term health of the Church. Truth will, indeed, honor what he has been and done.


text:
By Noah Perkins, Bulletin Staff

Phil Rizzuto interviews a basketball player during his days reporting for the Cambridge (Mass.) Chronicle.

Phil Rizzuto has an encyclopedic knowledge of Major League Baseball. Ask him about Kid Nichols, the 19th century Boston Beaneaters pitcher from the old National League, and he’ll rattle off his earned run average and career wins like it’s second nature.

“When you start watching sports as a kid, it’s a connection with your family,” Rizzuto said. “It’s exhilarating. It’s one of the few things that is more or less fair. There aren’t the same discriminations and biases that go into other things.”

His first window into professional sports came as a 5-year-old. Rizzuto remembers being captivated by news coverage of the well-publicized low-speed police chase involving former football star O.J. Simpson. In the 22 years since, sports fandom has become one of the central elements of Rizzuto’s identity.

“When I was in middle school, I would write articles about games just for myself,” Rizzuto said. “Sports have always been a big part of my life.”

As he got older, Rizzuto continued to write about sports, publishing his opinions for friends on social media as Facebook notes.

In September 2009, after dropping out of Suffolk University, Rizzuto, a lifelong resident of Cambridge, Mass., found a larger audience after offering his services to the Cambridge Chronicle. After submitting a sample of his work, Rizzuto became the sole provider of local high school sports coverage for the Chronicle.

“I wasn’t in school, I was looking for things to occupy my time, and I noticed there wasn’t really any local coverage for sports in the Chronicle, which I thought was kind of the point of having a local newspaper,” Rizzuto said. “I emailed the editor. He told me to go to a game and send in a writing sample. He liked it and said they’d pay me to do it, and if I wanted to keep doing it to let him know.”

For four years, Rizzuto contributed a weekly story to the Chronicle. His coverage encompassed athletics at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. His fondest memories are of the feature stories he wrote, in which more of an emotional connection was made.

“It was gratifying to see my name in print,” Rizzuto said. “I felt like someone who was making a positive impact on the community. To give kids pride in their accomplishments was certainly a good feeling. I got to meet a lot of student athletes, coaches and administrators. For someone from here who wants to stay here, it was useful making those connections.”

Rizzuto, while writing for the Chronicle, went back to school, umpired Little League baseball games, scooped ice cream at Lizzy’s Ice Cream in Cambridge and worked for an after-school program.

With too many commitments and a desire to pursue other things, he left the Chronicle in 2013.

In January, after nine years behind the counter, Rizzuto obtained an interim license to run Lizzy’s Ice Cream in Harvard Square as he waited for his purchase of the business to be finalized so he could officially become its owner.

Ironically, it was originally unrequited love that brought him to Lizzy’s in 2007.

“I was pursuing someone romantically,” Rizzuto said. “She worked there and I thought the best way to woo her was to stand next to her and scoop ice cream. That turned out to not be the case, but now I own a business, and … I’m not sure what she is doing with herself. As far as I know, it’s not owning a business.”

While scooping ice cream might not be as exciting as high school sports, it has provided Rizzuto with some memorable moments. Most notable for him was when he served ice cream at a charity function with Kevin Garnett, then a power forward with the Boston Celtics.

“I haven’t gotten very far, but I’ve done a lot in this town,” Rizzuto said.


text:
Jane is the director of accountability journalism at the American Press Institute. She joined API in 2014, arriving from the Washington Post where she was deputy Metro editor/digital. She also has been an editor and reporter at four other metropolitan newspapers including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Virginian-Pilot; and has taught journalism at Old Dominion University, the University of Pittsburgh and Point Park University.
She holds a master’s degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University, and was a 2017 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard. With the Poynter Institute, she publishes a weekly newsletter on accountability journalism.
In her spare time, she writes “News from a Friend,” a daily newsletter for non-journalists that’s designed to showcase and explain the day’s top stories from the most reliable news sources.


text:
For more great ideas, check out our Blog.
SearchRecipe ListRecipe Detail
Shrimp & Scallop Kabobs - 4, 5 or 6Qt. Roaster

4oz deveined shrimp with tails left on
1 small red pepper, cut into pieces
4oz scallops
1 small yellow pepper, cut into pieces
1 cup water
2 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 whole lettuce leaves
cooked rice, to serve

Set rack in Nesco® Roaster Oven. Add 1 cup water. Cover; preheat to 350ºF for 20 minutes.
Alternate on two wooden skewers: shrimp, red pepper, scallop and yellow pepper. Combine orange juice and teriyaki sauce. Brush over kabobs.

Place kabobs on rack. Arrange lettuce leaves over kabobs. Cover; steam 8 to 10 minutes or until shrimp are pink. Discard lettuce leaves.

Serve with cooked rice.

Serves 2

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When using electrical appliances, basic safety precautions should always be followed, including the following:
  2. To protect against electric shock, do not immerse Motor Body, Cord or Electric Plug in water or other liquid.
  3. The appliance is designed for household use only and is not intended for commerical use.
  4. This appliance should not be used by children. To avoid accidental injury, close supervision is necessary when any appliance is used by or near children.
  5. Unplug appliance from power outlet when not in use, before putting on or taking off parts, and before cleaning.
  6. Do not operate any appliance with damaged cord or plug, or after appliance malfunctions, or has been damaged in any manner. Return this appliance to Nesco®/American Harvest® Service Department for examination, repair or adjustment.
  7. During operation keep hands, hair, clothing, as well as spatulas and other utensils away from attachments and any mixing container, to reduce risk of injury to persons and/or damage to appliance. A spatula may be used but only when unit is not operating.
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Home Page

 Welcome to The Terrific Tigers!

Hello from Mrs Palmer.

Welcome to your class page.
Here you can find out about some of the exciting things that we will be doing this term.
You will also find a list of books that we will be reading and sharing in school.

Autumn 1

Week 1 and Week 2

Welcome to the start of our new school year.  In the first two weeks we will make lots of new friends and become familiar with the routines of the school day.  Our teachers will play games with us to see what we already know about numbers, shapes, sounds etc.  We will also have fun painting pictures of ourselves and making our class animals etc.

Week 3

Owl Babies

We will read the story, act it out and make patterns on owls.  In mathematics we will be learning about flat shapes. In the afternoons, we'll learn about growing up from a baby to an adult and we will make owl pictures.

Week 4

Kipper's Toy Box

In literacy we will read and retell the story and play some phonics games. In mathematics we will be counting.  In the afternoons, we will draw the toys from the story, paint Kipper and make a sock thing puppet.

Week 5

In literacy, we will be talking about birthday parties and we'll make party invitations.  In mathematics we will be recognising numbers and counting.  In the afternoons, we will be getting ready to celebrate our class toys 5th birthday party.

Week 6

The Scarecrow who didn't scare

In literacy , we will retell the story and label our own scarecrows.  In mathematics, we will play games with the numicon shapes.  In the afternoon, we will learn about signs of Autumn and make a scarecrow.

Week 7 and 8

Oliver's Vegetables/ Harvest

We will read the story and write a list of vegetables.  We will also read and share Autumn stories.  In mathematics, we will be using the bucket balances to weigh food.  In the afternoons we'll make pumpkins, hedgehogs and we'll be practising our harvest songs ready for our Harvest festival.

Digital Classroom
Image result for iPad

We will use our digital classroom to explore and play with the Bee Bots, remote control cars, talking tins, microphones, phones, iPads etc.

We'll play some problem solving games on the Espresso computer site.


text:
DAYTONA BEACH -- Casey Jones should have celebrated her seventh wedding anniversary this month but she never made it to her second.

Her husband should have been more to their 9-year-old daughter than the man she sees in pictures all over her house but doesn't remember, someone she can only talk to at his grave site.

Jones shouldn't have had to move but every inch of the home she shared with the man she fell in love with in 1999 was filled with a memory that made it too painful to stay.

"I just don't know what to do with myself some days," Jones said.

Jones believes her life went careening down the wrong path on Jan. 11, 2006, because there were no safety regulations in place that day that could have kept two city workers from using cutting torches above a 3,000-gallon tank of methanol and setting off a fiery blast. Her husband, 40-year-old Clyde Jones, was operating a crane just a few feet away and was caught in the fireball.

One of the city workers using the torches to remove a damaged metal canopy over the tank, 59-year-old Eric Johnson, died in the sudden inferno at the Bethune Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. The other, Michael Martin, managed to leap to the ground and survived.

Jones' husband died the next day.

More than 5 1/2 years later, the city has bolstered its employee-safety system. But Florida still doesn't have statewide mandatory U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules for its employees who work for school districts, local governments and state government agencies. Only Florida's federal workers and private business employees are guaranteed those OSHA protections.

Attempts to make the regulations state law in 2009 and 2010 fizzled and promises from state Sen. Evelyn Lynn to try again next year could be heading toward another disappointment with financially strapped Florida public agencies in no mood to take on anything they think could cost them more money.

Last week, the federal agency that investigated the deadly explosion scolded Florida for ignoring its recommendation to cover all Florida workers under the comprehensive OSHA system.

For the first time in its 13-year history, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board has branded an entire state -- Florida -- with an "unacceptable response" ruling after one of its investigations.

"It's a reflection of our frustration," said Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso. "Florida's inaction is unacceptable as it means public employees doing potentially hazardous work have inadequate workplace protections, which they would have if they were private-sector workers."

The CSB, an agency with presidentially appointed board members that investigates industrial chemical accidents, also made recommendations to Daytona Beach to adopt a local law that addresses workplace safety and abide by standard rules for storing flammable liquids in tanks. While it makes recommendations to both governments and private businesses after investigating accidents, the CSB ultimately has no power to issue citations or fines.

Nonetheless, city leaders say they started overhauling their worker-safety system within six months of the fatal accident.

In July 2006, the city hired a safety officer who leads some training and routinely visits city work sites, sometimes unannounced.

The city has also contracted with a professional safety company that provides training about two or three days every month for things such as excavating, working in confined spaces, using respirators, operating chain saws and preventing falls.

The city has a 23-chapter safety manual that has been distributed to all departments and is updated from time to time. The city also has safety committees at all department levels as well as an executive safety committee made up of department directors that meets quarterly.

The city has also made changes at the Bethune Point plant near the river on Beach Street. The tank that exploded was removed and the city no longer uses volatile chemicals there, City Manager Jim Chisholm said.

After the changes went into effect, city officials say injuries initially decreased by 37 percent, and then by 59 percent in a more recent year. The injury rate in 2010 was less than half of what it was in 2006, they said.

"We've tried to take to heart the opportunity to educate and train our employees," said Chisholm. "We've done about everything we can. . . . Everybody's life is important, and, certainly, we don't want it jeopardized while working for us."

The city's utilities director, Mitt Tidwell, said, "There's been a much higher emphasis on safety training" since 2006.

"It's routine. The guys expect it," Tidwell said.

Throughout its operation the city tries to follow OSHA rules where it can, Chisholm said, noting, "They're pretty onerous."

But that's not enough for a lot of people. It's not enough for the Chemical Safety Board, Sen. Lynn, Casey Jones and Martin, who suffered second- and third-degree burns across his body.

They want Daytona Beach, and every public agency in Florida, to follow OSHA rules to the letter. State and local government agencies were required in the past to meet OSHA standards. But in 1999, lawmakers eliminated the requirement as part of an overhaul of state labor programs.

Florida is one of 25 states that does not order its public agencies to abide by OSHA rules.

"We never lose the hope Florida will do the right thing by public employees," said CSB Chairman Moure-Eraso. "They have the same rights to health and safety."

Lynn, a Republican based in Ormond Beach, is doing her part to help.

"If we had these guidelines in place, we would have saved lives," Lynn said. "I never did understand why there'd be any objection to protecting employees."

The Florida League of Cities has opposed making OSHA rules the law for everyone, saying the rules would require complying with a massive number of federal standards without providing money to help public agencies pay for them.

Moure-Eraso said the argument that OSHA procedures are too costly doesn't make sense since governments can wind up paying out hefty sums when workers are seriously hurt and killed and their insurance rates can spike.

Martin received a settlement of more than $2 million from the city and its insurer in a workers' compensation claim. The families of Jones and Johnson were given death benefits of $150,000 each.

In a lawsuit against the contractors and subcontractors who built the plant and tank, last year the three families received an undisclosed sum in a confidential settlement.

The families also sued the city but walked away with no damage award. The families got caught in a legal Catch-22, said Chobee Ebbets, a Daytona Beach attorney who represented Clyde Jones and was lead counsel for all three plaintiffs.

Ebbets said he was able to prove the city's level of misconduct was so egregious it was certain to cause an injury or death. But he said that put into play a state law that says "any conduct that is egregious automatically bars any claim against the government employer."

In the legal world, it's called sovereign immunity.

The claims against the city were denied. The case was appealed to a higher court but, a few months ago, the appeals court sided with the city as well.

"If it had been a private company, we could have gone to trial and gotten a huge verdict for all three plaintiffs," Ebbets said.

Ebbets agrees with the CSB's ruling that the 2006 accident was preventable. Training would have taught workers that the sparks and flames from their torches could ignite methanol vapors, the CSB said.

The agency also ruled that a flame arrester on the tank was too corroded to prevent an outside heat source from igniting the gas. The flame arrester should have been built out of something other than aluminum, which methanol can corrode, and the tank's valves and pipes that ruptured should have been steel, not plastic, the CSB said.

Talking about all the things that shouldn't have happened still upsets Martin, who has moved to Titusville. It angers Casey Jones, too.

"I don't really have anything good to say about the city," said Jones, who moved from Daytona Beach to Port Orange after the accident. "They killed two gentlemen, and they get away with it because of sovereign immunity."

Martin, who's 48 now, said he's dedicated to improving worker safety in Florida. He's gone to Tallahassee to tell state lawmakers about his ordeal, and he'll repeat the story on national TV if he ever gets the chance. Casey Jones has testified before Congress on Capitol Hill and appeared in a CSB safety video that focuses on work that can produce sparks and flames.

"I hope somebody in the state capitol listens and realizes changes need to be made," she said. "The state needs to be the one to step up so cities have to follow the rules."

If that happens, maybe then she could find some peace of mind. She said she misses her husband every day. She still thinks about the last time he was able to talk to her in the hospital and kissing him on the one spot of his forehead that wasn't burned.

"Anything I've gotten from this whole ordeal I'd give back to have him and have my daughter know her father," she said. "Change has to come, or else another senseless tragedy will happen, if not here then in one of the other states without OSHA protections for everyone."

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