Posted on 01/19/2005 2:30:08 PM PST by GretchenM
President and Mrs. Bush visited the National Archives to view some of our nation's founding documents.
In spite of some Senators Behaving Badly (particularly John Kerry and Barbara Boxer), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Wednesday to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state; the nomination now goes to the full Senate for a vote.
Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island: one day to go till W2!
Helllooooooooo! Tomorrow's going to be a great day for us isn't it!!!!
I go now be strong America good country ok Thank you Good Night
BBC News Information
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4189883.stm
Asia's tsunami death toll soars
The number of people known to have died in last month's Asian tsunami has reached 220,000.
The toll increased dramatically after Indonesian officials announced that more than 166,000 had been confirmed dead in their country alone.
The latest figure is more than 50,000 higher than the previous total issued by Indonesia's health ministry.
Most of the deaths came from the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were directly hit by the tsunami.
UN and Indonesian officials have said the total number of deaths may never be known.
In other developments:
At an international disaster conference in Kobe, Japan, the United Nations humanitarian chief says the UN should take the lead in creating a tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean
India unveils a $628m reconstruction package for mainland areas hit by the tsunami
Sri Lanka's president launches a reconstruction drive worth $3.5bn
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that at least one million people have lost their livelihoods in Sri Lanka and Indonesia alone and calls for action to create jobs.
Bodies recovered
The director of the Indonesian ministry's health affairs department, Doti Indrasanto, said the number of fatalities soared after health officials declared that thousands of people previously listed as missing were dead.
The ministry said it had slashed the number of missing from 77,000 to 6,245.
"We have cross-checked this information and it is correct," Mr Idrasanto said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the final death toll might never be known.
"Perhaps we will never know the exact scale of the human casualties," he said.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Aceh says that in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, more than 14% of the population is confirmed dead.
She says there are still local districts that have not reported any figures at all, making it seem inevitable that the final death toll will be higher still.
Officials retrieving decomposed bodies in Aceh said about 3,500 corpses were being removed each day - nearly four weeks after the disaster.
About 800,000 people were made homeless in Aceh and North Sumatra as a result of the disaster.
Floods slow relief
Relief officials said floods caused by heavy rains were delaying lorries sending supplies to Aceh's provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
"Flooding is a bigger problem than security," a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Chris Lom, told the AFP news agency.
He was referring to fears of renewed clashes between Aceh separatists and Indonesian armed forces.
On Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said he hoped to hold formal peace talks with the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) rebels later this month - the first since May 2003.
The Gam has been waging a rebellion against the Jakarta authorities for nearly three decades.
But in the wake of the tsunami, both sides agreed to an informal ceasefire to help ease the distribution of aid.
Yes it will be a great day!
Only if you're dead or living in a homeless shelter. /sarcasm
We know the judges will rule in favor of the RAT, but it's good to know and see the pubs aren't taking it laying down! KUDOS!
The Dems seem to have the dead and homeless vote locked-up :)
Bump - Thank you :)
....great picture of Condi--was it when she found out she was confirmed?
Man, where did all that snow in DC come from? None of my DC relatives has even mentioned snow. Looks like I'll have to call and tell 'em it's 61 out here in Seattle...snicker, snicker...
Maybe the snow will cut down on the demonstrator factor.
So, who's countin'! Never can get enought of GW and family (and the VP!)
I think it will--they're a fragile bunch.
Cheney says he thought that the treatment Condi received by the senators was "fundamentally unfair".
He's being too nice, I think. Condi was attacked. The whole administration was attacked.
Wow!!! Good for Larry Gatlin (who btw is from here in Odessa, Texas!). I wish I could have seen him punch them out verbally! The looks on their faces would have been worth it all!
For those who may have missed it, the First Lady was on the CBS morning show today. She was interviewed by Bill Plante. For those who are interested, go here http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/19/earlyshow/main667735.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories for an article about the interview.
Here's a snippet about Beezie and Barney (no photos, unfortunately):
Mrs. Bush gave Plante a semi-exclusive: a look at the Bush family's new Scottish Terrier, Miss Beazley, and insight into how the first pets are getting along.
"She's just doing great," Mrs. Bush said, holding Miss Beazley in her lap. "She's settled in really very well. She's really sweet. She's teething, so she does a lot of chewing."
[The puppy was chewing on the First Lady's finger at this point in the interview.]
As for Barney, the Bush's other dog, he has "become very protective of her and he doesn't act really particularly jealous, so I think that's great. He rushes in to see her. She stays in the kitchen, mainly, the kitchen upstairs, where there's not a carpet, and she's just been a very, very sweet dog. So we've had a lot of fun with her.
"She likes to chase our cat. The only one who's not really thrilled with Miss Beazley is our cat, India."
Mrs. Bush adds, "Beezie likes Barney, she loves Barney. She's very interested in everything Barney does."
Thanks for the picture. I know this sounds crazy, but I am CERTAIN I have seen President Bush in that same golf shirt last summer. Knowing that he doesn't care much about clothes and is fairly frugal, I will bet it is, indeed, the same shirt.
***Man, where did all that snow in DC come from?***
Yup, that snow sure surprised me, too. We lived a half hour from D.C. for a year, and the only snow we had was one 4" fall of light, fluffy stuff that you could drive through with no trouble. (Of course the natives abandoned their cars on the roads and refused to leave their houses. Sorry, D.C. people, but to a northerner it was too funny. Loved your weather, though and wish we had some of it right now.)
Heheheheh, it's gonna be wonderfully cold here in the North East tomorrow, they're gonna freeze their butts off!!
LOL--it probably is.
Awwwww, your update on how Beezie and Barney are getting along was just great. Thank you.
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