A day in the life of President Bush (9/26/05): photos

www.yahoo.com www.whitehouse.gov ^ | 26th September 2005 | Snugs

[DollyCali]

i left out a word in my last post (HE).. the 2 bloody marys didn't have a thing to do with it though.. ????????????

[CAluvdubya]

The Padres lost. Are we still in first?

[CAluvdubya]

I agree with all of your post #352. I would gladly take a "Constitutional" judge, whom I may disagree with on occasion, over the garbage that we have out here in CA.

[Mo1]

BTW..... I often wonder if Cindy Sheehan isn't on Karl Rove's payroll!!!!

You're gonna freak out the loons with that kind of talk .. LOL!!

[GretchenM]

Thank you, Eleanor, for this Monday dose.

The look in W's eyes seems to grow deeper, filled with much more understanding, the longer he is in the office of the presidency, handling crises.

By the way, Sabrina and I had lemon curd topping on ginger cookies after her homework and art work were done Monday night, and she took some home for her parents. They LOVED them. ;-) She told me she wants to be a professional chef when she grows up and some day she will tell people she had this friend named Gretchen who taught her how to make ginger cookies with lemon, and then she'll share the "recipe." I thought it was pretty precious.

[GretchenM]

I love the fabric and color on those chairs. Very elegant.

[GretchenM]

Faulty Body Armor May Have Endangered [Pres. and Laura] Bush
Sep 26
By JOHN SOLOMON Associated Press Writer
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/26/D8CS3L483.html

WASHINGTON
The Justice Department is investigating whether a company sold defective bulletproof vests for President Bush, federal agents and local police and then waited nearly two years to alert customers that the body armor could be unsafe.

A former research chief for Second Chance Body Armor Inc. is cooperating with the criminal investigation and testified this month that the Secret Service tested and bought some of the defective vests for the president and first lady Laura Bush. The Pentagon obtained the same armor for elite troops who guard generals, according to transcripts obtained by The Associated Press.

Many sales occurred well after Michigan-based Second Chance had been alerted that the Japanese-made Zylon synthetic material in the vests was degrading faster than expected from heat, light and moisture exposure, allowing bullets to potentially penetrate the armor, according to the former employee's testimony and other company documents.

Prosecutors have gathered documents showing that Second Chance was alerted as early as 1998 by the Japanese material maker, Toyobo Co., that there were problems with Zylon maintaining its protective properties under certain conditions.

By 2001, Second Chance's research chief, Aaron Westrick, was pleading unsuccessfully with his company's president to replace the vests after his own tests showed them degrading rapidly, the memos show.

"Lives and our credibility are at stake," Westrick wrote then-Second Chance president Richard Davis in a Dec. 18, 2001, memo. "We will only prevail if we do the right things and not hesitate. This issue should not be hidden for obvious safety issues and because of future litigation."

Westrick urged Davis to "immediately notify our customers of the degradation problems," let those with pending orders cancel them and cease all executive bonuses to save money so the company could pay for a replacement initiative, the memo shows.

But Second Chance customers were not alerted to the problems until September 2003 _ after a California police officer was shot to death wearing the vest and a Pennsylvania officer was seriously wounded.

In the interim, the Secret Service paid $53,000 in 2002 to Second Chance for body armor, enough to equip the president and the security detail that protects him and other VIPs, federal procurement records show.

Legal professionals and government officials familiar with the inquiry confirmed Westrick's account about the Secret Service and Bush. They said the criminal investigation is in addition to a Justice Department lawsuit filed last summer that accuses Second Chance and Toyobo of fraud. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity, citing grand jury secrecy.

Robert H. Skilton, Second Chance's lawyer, did not return calls to his office last week. Some of the company's non-Zylon assets have been sold and others are in bankruptcy.

Westrick's lawyer, Stephen M. Kohn, said Sunday his that client was cooperating with the criminal investigation.

"Greed prevailed over the safety of police, soldiers and even the president of the United States," Kohn said. "The officials who personally profited from selling the defective vests to law enforcement must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the criminal code."

Throughout 2001 and 2002, agencies from the Pentagon to local police bought vests from Second Chance, records show. The company now says more than 100,000 Zylon vests it sold are in question, and the government said it bought at least 40,000.

In summer 2002, company executives prepared a memo for their board of directors recommending two stark options.

"Solution 1: We continue to operate as though nothing is wrong until one of our customers is killed or wounded or Germany, Japan, DuPont or some other entity exposes the Zylon problem," the memo said.

Under possible "downfalls" for that option, the memo warned that an officer wearing one of the vests might be killed. "In the eyes of law enforcement, we will either be stupid for not knowing or greedy and uncaring for knowing and not doing anything about it," the memo said.

The second option recommended the company publish an ad "denouncing" the vests and "decline to make them" unless customers know of the problem and still want them.

While it waited until fall 2003 to alert buyers, Second Chance arranged in the interim for Toyobo to begin paying it refunds in 2002 for the Zylon problems, promising to use the money to fix vests already sold in the United States, according to documents in Second Chance's bankruptcy case.

Toyobo told the bankruptcy court that Second Chance took the money but "failed to implement the corrective actions."

"It is apparent that Toyobo was duped by Second Chance," Kent Jarrell, a U.S. spokesman for Toyobo, said Sunday. "We were shocked by the level of Second Chance's deception when their behavior was finally uncovered because of documents that surfaced in litigation and through investigation."

The Justice Department's lawsuit this summer accused both Second Chance and Toyobo of allowing vests to be sold to local, state and federal police even though the companies knew the ability to stop bullets was overstated.

But that lawsuit, along with others filed by states, made no mention of a connection to the Secret Service and Bush. Westrick discussed that connection in a deposition earlier this month provided to investigators.

"The president had Zylon Ultima armor and his wife had it, if I recollect, and they took a look at it ... I believe it was the Secret Service put the armor through some special tests and went with it, bought it," Westrick testified in a Sept. 9 transcript obtained by The Associated Press.

Westrick said that while the vest had passed initial Secret Service testing, he warned his company that Zylon would soon degrade and allow bullets to pierce the armor. "I said it would be a problem," he testified.

Secret Service officials declined to say whether Bush ever wore the vest, saying they don't discuss presidential protective measures.

Westrick was told Bush wore Zylon protection during the 2001 inauguration and during a 2002 event with police that Westrick's boss attended, according to legal professionals familiar with the case.

Westrick's testimony this month also identified other potential victims whom federal prosecutors may explore _ elite special forces who work for the Central Command in protecting generals overseas.

The research director-turned-whistle-blower testified he provided to Central Command several Zylon Ultima vests but warned he feared they were defective.

"Second Chance supplied them, but I also told them I thought the armor was problematic," Westrick said. "I thought it would degrade. My research showed that it degraded."

[kitkat]

There used to be a huge billboard near the entrance to the Peace Bridge which connects Canada with the U.S. that advised people to Drink Canada Dry. (Many tried, many failed)

[GodBlessUSA]

Thank You! :)

[Bahbah]

This will be a great beginning.

[maica]

"He went too late to Katrina....he went too soon to Rita. He can't win!"


######

There is already a "news" article about the hypocrisy of GWB using AF1 and his motorcade after he made a speech asking Americans to conserve energy.

[maica]

Compare the recent photos of President Bush with that beautiful worthy of a portrait shot taken in July.

His neck now looks like he is as old as his father. He must not be eating well at all.

[maica]

Many of these people look like folks you would see at
a GOP gathering, not all magot looking.
This is what we are dealing with.


@@@@@

1. I am hoping that these are sincerely misguided people who had their eyes opened at that rally. The speakers were anti-Bush and anti-capitalism and anti-American, not anti-war.

2. We don't see any photos of the actual marchers. I would be surprised if the "GOP looking" folks participated in that.

3. Another huge event for normal people was being held on the Mall that same day. Some people probably attended both events. It has had minimal media coverage - because it was sponsored by Laura Bush.

Imagine if Hillary had started and sponsored such an annual event. The country would have known about it for weeks.

[snugs]

You put lemon curd on ginger biscuits what a combination, I am imagining what my dad and mum would have said to me but they they thought peanut butter and jam (jelly) was an horrendous mix.

[snugs]

:0)

[NordP]

HE DID???? Very cool. I'd love to share a Ruth Chris steak and fine cigar with that man.

[Just A Nobody]

Thank you for a great dose snugs.

I had internet problems until late last night, but wanted to thank you. Better late than never I guess. ;*)

[Just A Nobody]

Sorry you were unable to make it to the rally.
Just seeing/hearing those "things" would have made you ill. Hope you feel better soon.

Love your sign ... we were working on one for Friday night at WRAMC that says that, only replacing CS with Code Pink! It just could not get finished in time. Watch for it this week!

[GretchenM]

lol We all loved the combination! I also gave some to another friend who thought it was delicious. Both the lemon curd and ginger are strong and the tart-spicy-sweet combination keeps one's interest to the last morsel.

PBJ (peanut butter and jelly or jam) on bread or toast propelled me into adulthood -- a main staple of my diet. I still like PBJ toast now and then. I can't think of anyone I knew or know who wasn't raised on it -- it's sort of up there with Mom and apple pie in the "Americana" lexicon.

It never occurred to me *not* to put the lemon and ginger together!

[snugs]

I agree lemon and ginger is a good combination for various deserts but I suppose I am used to eating the gingernuts on their own. I have a dreadful British habit of dunking them in my tea.

It just goes to show not only are we 2 nations divided by the same language but also eating habits. Most people in Britain recoil from peanut butter and jam (jelly) and eat them separately.