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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 4, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Press Briefing

12:53 P.M. EST

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everybody.

Q You're late.

MR. McCLELLAN: I am sorry. (Laughter.) Sometimes that happens. Do you want to cancel it?

Let me give you an update on the relief efforts underway in the Indian Ocean region. The President spoke with Secretary Powell, and his brother, Governor Bush, this morning to receive an update on the delegation's assessment of the humanitarian relief efforts in the Indian Ocean region and the needs on the ground. Secretary Powell gave a positive report on the coordination going on between our government agencies, like USAID and the military, to make sure aid is flowing to those who are in need. The Secretary also praised the work of our men and women in uniform, and the military operation in the region that is being overseen by General Blackman. The two delegation heads also spoke about how every leader that they have met with has expressed their great appreciation for the outpouring of support from the United States government.

The Secretary also spoke about the upcoming ASEAN summit, and the President and Secretary Powell discussed the importance of developing a long-term strategy for reconstruction and recovery. The two delegation heads also reported about the strong capabilities the governments of India , Sri Lanka and Thailand have in place to effectively manage the response and relief in those countries.

They discussed the challenges and difficulties facing Aceh in Indonesia . The level of destruction there is beyond comprehension. And the President expressed his appreciation to Secretary Powell and Governor Bush for their work, and he reiterated to them to be sure and express his personal condolences on behalf of the United States to leaders in the region and the people in the region. The President looks forward to receiving further updates and reports later this week from these two leaders.

And I also want to update you on the effort underway by former Presidents Clinton and Bush to reach out to the American people to encourage even more charitable giving to international organizations in the region who are helping provide relief to those who are suffering. Since -- well, yesterday's numbers from our website report that there were a total number of visitors of 100,210 to the website. Now, this compares to a daily average for 2004 of 5,755 visitors a day. So already the announcement that was made yesterday and the outreach efforts by these two leaders on the airwaves has shown that the American people are responding in overwhelming numbers to continue to show their compassion and generosity for those in the region.

From Saturday through yesterday, we have had 147,265 visitors. If you'll recall, the President, on Saturday in his radio address, encouraged Americans to donate cash to international organizations and directed him to the website to look at the list of international organizations who are on the ground in the region, that they could direct those funds to.

And that is all I have to begin with. I will be glad to go to your questions.

Q Scott, after this briefing, does the President have any idea whether there's going to be a need for more than $350 million to be dedicated to this effort? President Clinton yesterday indicated that he thought that number would, indeed, go up.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think we've indicated that. And President Clinton was saying what we've already said previously. Secretary Powell, you heard a report from him yesterday saying that he believes the level we're at right now, which is an initial funding level, is the right level for right now. But they're continuing to assess conditions on the ground and what may be needed going forward, not only in the immediate-term, but the longer-term, as well, because this is going to a be long-term project. As I pointed out yesterday, the United States will be in this for the long haul, long after the media stops focusing on this at the top of the newscast or stops putting it on the front page of the papers. We are going to be there to continue to provide help. And as we assess what is needed, we will be there to make sure that needs are met.

Q What about U.S. military assets? Is there any estimate for how long and how much more may be needed?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know if there's any new update beyond what you've heard from our military leaders, as well as USAID, in terms of the immediate response efforts that are underway. We're still in this immediate response phase. We'll be moving toward a longer-term reconstruction phase at some point because the devastation is just beyond comprehension and there is a lot of work that will be required on the road ahead. But I would leave it to the latest updates you've receive from USAID, as well as our military leaders, in terms of where that is. But we have a number of ships in the area; we have helicopters flying around the clock to provide relief to those who need it; we have trucks moving supplies. So we're getting food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits to those who are in need, and we're working to make sure that we can get it to those remote areas where it's more difficult to transport those supplies to.

Q Can you tell us more about the Allawi phone call ? Can you clarify what -- has any action been pursued as a result of the phone call?

MR. McCLELLAN: Any action pursued as a result of the phone call? Well, they stay in touch from time-to-time. And as I pointed out earlier today, they talked about some of the ongoing challenges as Iraq moves forward on elections and moves forward to improve the security situation on the ground. And so that was the discussion on the phone call. And they will continue to stay in touch as Iraq moves forward on holding elections and putting in place a transitional government, and putting in place a constitution and then a permanent representative, elected government later in the year.

Q Is there any concern here that the Allawi government may be preparing to move to delay the Iraqi election?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in fact, in their phone call, they talked about the importance of moving forward on the timetable that was set out by the Independent Iraqi Election Commission. So I haven't heard anything of that nature. We fully support the Independent Iraqi Election Commission timetable of January 30th for holding those elections. It's important that we continue to move forward on all fronts to help the Iraqi people realize a better future; a future that stands in stark contrast to the one of the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. There is a clear choice facing the Iraqi people, facing the region and facing the international community. We can stand on the side of democracy and freedom and peace, or we can stand on the side of terrorists and tyranny and oppression.

I think that the international community is joining with the Iraqi people to help them move forward toward a free and democratic and peaceful future. The Iraqi people want to vote for their government. They are expressing that in surveys that we've seen; they're expressing that by going to register and make sure that they are able to vote. And what we are focused on right now is doing everything we can to support the situation on the ground by improving the security situation and making sure that we can see as full a participation as possible in those elections on January 30th. And remember, this is a transitional government that they will be electing, and they will put in place the leadership. And then they will come back after they have adopted a constitution to adopt a permanent representative government.

Q There are reports that some people in Iraq are getting a little wobbly about that election date.

MR. McCLELLAN: I've seen some of those reports, just like you have. We remain firmly supportive of the Independent Iraqi Election Commission and their timetable of January 30th. They are moving forward on registering Iraqis. They're moving forward on reaching out to areas where there's a heavy population of Sunnis to encourage as broad a participation in that segment of society, as well. We want to see all parts of Iraq participate to the fullest extent possible in these elections.

Q But it's not our country, is it, and if they want to delay the election, that would be -- how would the United States respond --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that the Iraqi people have shown that they want to move forward on elections, that they believe that's important to moving forward toward a free and peaceful future. This is part of the transition to democracy. And as they move forward on elections, it will help defeat the ambitions of those terrorists and Saddam loyalists who seek to derail that transition.

Q So, first, are you saying that in this conversation yesterday -- which you did not read out yesterday -- between the President and President Allawi, Allawi committed yesterday to holding elections at the end of the month, as scheduled?

MR. McCLELLAN: They talked about the importance of making sure that there is as broad a participation as possible in the elections and moving forward on the date that had been set.

Q So Allawi said he still is committed to that date?

MR. McCLELLAN: There was no discussion of delay in the election. I said that earlier today, and I repeat that again today.

Q So what is the President's response to the voices of Adnan Pachachi, a leading politician in Iraq , to the Defense Minister in Mr. Allawi's government -- who are saying, you cannot hold elections in this environment?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the response is what I said a minute ago. First of all, this is a decision by the interim government and the Independent Iraqi Election Commission to move forward on elections. We support them fully in those efforts to move ahead with these elections for a transitional government. And we also support the efforts of Prime Minister Allawi to reach out to all segments of Iraqi society and encourage the fullest possible participation in these elections.

Most of the country is in a secure enough environment to proceed with these elections. There are some areas where there are serious security challenges that remain. We're working to address those security challenges, partnering with the Iraqi security forces and partnering with the interim government, to make sure that in those areas, that as many people as possible can participate in the elections.

Q Scott, is the United States concerned that Egypt , as recently as a year ago, took some steps toward a nuclear weapons program?

MR. McCLELLAN: You're talking about the IAEA reports? We've seen the reports. I don't think we have anything to offer at this point, except what we've said all along, that we expect all nations to cooperate with the Independent Atomic Energy Agency. We're sure that they will look into this matter, these reports, and I would just point out that Egypt is a signatory to the Nonproliferation Treaty.

Q Would that be a matter of concern, though, if --

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we don't have anymore on it at this point. That's something the IAEA will look into, and we'll see what else we can find out.

Q As far as the donations from individuals in the private sector, are you keeping track of those in some broad way?

MR. McCLELLAN: No -- the short answer is, no. I don't know that we really can, because we're asking people to donate directly to these non-governmental international organizations who are on the ground in the Indian Ocean region. We're asking them to contribute directly to groups like the Red Cross, or the Red Crescent Society, or CARE, or Habitat for Humanity International, to help the people on the ground there recover and reconstruct their societies.

Q How will the two former Presidents know if they're being successful or if they need --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think one indication is the website, and the numbers that I pointed out to you at the beginning of this briefing. That's one indication that the American people are continuing to respond and even increase their response to the relief efforts already underway in the region.

We've seen a tremendous outpouring of support from the American people over the last week. The President talked about that in his announcement yesterday of this nationwide fund-raising effort. And he also expressed his gratitude to these two distinguished leaders. I think you're seeing already that the American people are responding very strongly to the outreach by these two distinguished leaders and former Presidents.

Q Do you have a sense of how long you want them to maintain this effort? And how would you decide at which point they seem to have done all they can do?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think, first of all, the effort is just getting underway; it's only been underway for the last 24 hours and they are already working very hard at reaching out to the American people. And they will be reaching out to foundations, they will be reaching out to corporations, they will be asking people to contribute as they are able to do so. Whether it's small contributions or larger contributions, everything helps. And everybody is focused on doing what they can to help the people in the region recover from this grave disaster.

Q Has the President given?

MR. McCLELLAN: He's in the process of doing that. I, hopefully, we'll have more to report on that tomorrow, if not later today. But he is in the process of doing that and looking at organizations that he will be sending money to in the region.

Q He's just trying to figure out who he's going to give to and what --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I think you can expect he will make a significant contribution, himself.

Q Scott, on the USA Freedom Corps support for Presidents Clinton and Bush, how much resources are being devoted to this? Are we talking about one person, 10 people?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the USA Freedom Corps staff is not a large staff, but they will do whatever is needed to support these efforts from a logistical and staffing standpoint, and help to coordinate any travel that these two leaders do.

Q -- but if all the money that is collected is not spent on this disaster, are there going to be any sort of preparations made to give the money to other disasters or other needs in this country or overseas?

MR. McCLELLAN: If all the money from --

Q -- this effort. There are a lot of --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're talking about from the government, or through these international organizations? I mean, I think you'd have to direct questions to the international organizations themselves. But the President talked about, in his announcement yesterday, how he wanted to make sure that this money was sent directly to reliable organizations who have a proven record on the ground in the region of helping people respond to disasters.

Q I want to make sure I understand your answer to Terry's question on Iraq . You said, the President fully supports the deadline set by the Iraq Independent Election Commission and the government. But since this is a sovereign election, if either the commission or the Allawi government comes back and says, we want to change to some other date, a month, two months, three months down the line, in order to get more Sunni participation, is the President going to support that, as well?

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, we haven't heard that happen, and second of all, you're asking me to speculate about what-ifs, and I don't do that. The President made it very clear that he believes it's important to move forward on the timetable that was set out by the Iraqi Election Commission. He talked about that in his end-of-year press conference before the holidays.

And so we remain firmly -- we believe that they should move forward on the timetable that was set out by the Independent Iraqi Election Commission. It's important to move forward on elections, because that helps us move forward toward a free, democratic, and peaceful country for the Iraqi people. This is an important step in the process, it's not the end. And those who are opposed to democracy and freedom are desperately trying to stop this transition. We are seeing their tactics of killing innocent civilians. They have no regard for innocent civilians. And they have no regard for the rule of law. They want to return to the past. They recognize -- the terrorists and Saddam loyalists recognize how high the stakes are. We recognize how high the stakes are. Iraq recognizes how high the stakes. The international community recognizes how high the stakes are. And it's important we continue to do everything we can to support the Iraqi people in their desire for a free, democratic, and peaceful future.

Q So it's clear that he sees no benefit at all, even if you took the argument of those in Iraq who say you get Sunni participation, he sees no benefit in a delay --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there are efforts underway to reach out to the Sunnis and to encourage even broader participation in that segment. And those efforts are continuing. And there are efforts to address some of the security situations in some of the areas where the violence is at a higher level than other areas.

Q Scott, you're saying the decision is the commission's to make?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the Iraq Election Commission is the one that set the timetable. We said we support that. That is the decision that they made, and that is what the Iraqi -- or the interim Iraqi government is moving forward to meet. We fully support that. The President believes it is important to move forward on the timetable that was set out by the Election Commission, the timetables that were set out in the transitional administrative law.

Q There was a series of flag-grade Fofficers, over a dozen of them today, who issued a statement calling on the White House to release documents regarding the decisions that Mr. Gonzales has made in his role as legal counsel of the President, especially with regard to the detainees and to the period going into the Iraq war. Is the White House willing to release these documents to give the Senate the ability to judge Mr. Gonzales' attitude towards the law, toward a constitution, and towards --

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I saw a number of these individuals are people that supported the campaign of the President's opponent. So let's keep that in mind when we're talking about these individuals. Secondly, a number of the documents that I think you might be referring to have been made available publicly. In fact, Judge Gonzales participated in a briefing with Department of Defense officials to talk about some of those very documents I think you're referring to. And we've also responded to some inquiries from the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well. And Judge Gonzales looks forward to going before the committee later this week and participating in his hearing. And we hope Congress -- we hope the Senate will move forward quickly on his nomination. He is someone who has done an outstanding job for the President here as White House Counsel, and we know he will make a great Attorney General. And so we hope Congress will move forward quickly on that nomination.

Q Why aren't all the documents being released --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not sure what you're specifically referring to. We can talk about it more later. But as I said, a number of the documents that I think you're referring to have been released. And in terms of the policy by the President, the policy that the President set, which Judge Gonzales is responsible for making sure is followed, was very clear. We adhere to our laws and our treaty obligations. That's the policy of the United States government, and that's what we expect to be followed.

Q Scott, the President had said he was going to appoint this bipartisan tax panel , panel to look at tax reform, before the end of 2004. (Laughter.) I'm wondering what happened with that.

MR. McCLELLAN: Didn't it get announced before the end of 2004? We are moving forward on that panel. We are close to announcing the panel. I expect that will happen soon. I don't want to put more of a time frame on it than that, but we will be moving forward on announcing this bipartisan advisory panel very soon.

Tax reform is a high priority for the President. The tax code is outdated, it is a complicated mess, as you heard the President talk about throughout the last year. He wants to make it simpler, fairer, and also to make sure it is a code that encourages economic growth and job creation. And this advisory panel will play an important role by making recommendations to the Secretary of Treasury, who will then report back to the President. And we want to move forward on this priority as quickly as we can. But, obviously, they'll need some time to look at the tax code and make some recommendations.

Q What's the reason for the delay?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's just a matter of getting everything in place. We'll be announcing it very soon. I think you're talking about a matter of days that it's off from what our original target was.

Q Scott, has the President, or have the officials at the White House been telling top Republicans, as has been reported, that the President wants to change the basis upon which Social Security benefits are calculated?

MR. McCLELLAN: We've been telling members of Congress what the President has already said, that the Social Security system, as it is now, is unsustainable. It is in a crisis, we need to fix it. And he believes it's important for all of us to have a common understanding of the problem facing Social Security. He's made it very clear the principles upon which he is moving forward and that he wants to move forward with Congress.

But he also believes it's important to move forward in a bipartisan way. The President hasn't made any decisions about a specific proposal at this point, and I think that goes to your question. What the President has said is that this is a big priority, because this is a serious problem that we should not pass on to future generations. We need to work together in a bipartisan way to solve this problem now.

The reason why is because over time, it only gets worse. And younger workers right now are promised certain benefits that they will not see. It's an empty promise because they're facing either massive tax increases or massive benefit cuts. And the benefits going out in 2018, we will not be able to sustain that with the taxes coming in. So over the course of time, the system will become insolvent and it won't be there for younger workers.

Now, the President made it very clear that those at or near retirement will receive -- will have no changes in their Social Security system. But we want to strengthen it for younger workers and provide them with a new -- with a new benefit that would help them realize an even greater rate of return, similar to what the bipartisan Social Security Commission pointed out, with the Thrift Savings Plan and the benefits people have received from that.

Q -- a published report today that the President or his people have been telling top Republicans that this change in benefit calculations will be made as part of the President's proposal are flat wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he hasn't made any decision, and the story pointed that out today -- on a specific proposal. Now, what we are talking to them about is ideas for how we can work together to get this problem solved. There are a number of ideas presented in the form of legislation, a number of ideas presented by members of Congress on how we can move forward on it. We're talking to them about all those ideas. The President made it very clear, here are my principles which will guide me: no changes at or near retirement; wants to make sure younger workers can invest, on a voluntary basis, if they so choose, a small portion of their retirement benefits in personal retirement accounts; and he said no increases in payroll taxes to fix this. And so those are the principles.

Now, we're talking with members of Congress about the ideas. He also pointed to the bipartisan Social Security Commission, led by the late Senator Moynihan, and said that that would be -- their work would be something that should be a guide for us, moving forward. They presented some ideas. We haven't endorsed any of those specific ideas, but we have said that they are consistent with our principles.

Q -- the principle that you just spoke of, at or near retirement, would seem to rule out the change in benefit calculations that applies right away. That's not, apparently, what was the subject of the report --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're talking about people at or near retirement. Let me talk about a couple of things for those at or near retirement, because the longer we wait to solve this problem, the more limited our options become. Right now we have a wider array of options available to us to solve this problem. And there are a number of ideas that have been presented, and there are a number of ideas that members of Congress have. We want to listen to those ideas, we want to talk to them about those ideas, and talk about how we can move forward in a bipartisan way to get this done this year, so that we don't come to a point where our options are very limited and that at or near retirement option might be much more limited.

It also depends on what you're talking about, in terms of personal retirement accounts, the funding level you're talking about there, what level you're allowing people to invest in personal retirement accounts. That can affect all those issues. And so there's a lot of issues you have to look at to --

Q -- the specific question was about changing the retirement initial payment calculations, and whether changing it for someone who retires tomorrow --

MR. McCLELLAN: No changes for those at or near retirement -- made that very clear. He's made that very clear.

Q But you can still change to a price indexing scheme for those who are not at or near retirement, no?

MR. McCLELLAN: I appreciate the ideas that you're putting forward. (Laughter.)

Q -- commission, itself, in one of its options recommends indexing benefits to price inflation, rather than wage inflation. And if you were to do that, that is not an increase in payroll taxes, nor is it -- nor is it a benefits cut, per se, because you would still allow benefits to increase, you just wouldn't have them increasing at the same rate.

MR. McCLELLAN: We'll take that into consideration, too.

Q But that's not -- I mean, you're --

MR. McCLELLAN: I know what you're asking --

Q -- has made a decision on a specific proposal, but you were talking about ideas. One of the ideas is this proposal --

MR. McCLELLAN: I said there are lot of ideas being discussed.

Q So he's open to that idea?

MR. McCLELLAN: There are a lot of ideas being discussed. We're not going to get into negotiating from this podium. As the President clearly outlined in his press conference at the end of the year, he said these are our principles, and then he said, I want to work with members of Congress who are committed to solving this problem and getting it done now. That's what we were elected to do, to come to Washington and solve problems, not pass them on to future generations; and to make sure we address them before they worsen.

Q This isn't asking you to negotiate. It's just asking you to clarify whether the ideas that are --

MR. McCLELLAN: I beg to differ with you.

Q Scott, as the President gets ready to revisit this tort reform issue, where -- on the malpractice section of that debate, where do insurance companies fall? There are a number of people who are watching this debate and say that the insurance companies, especially on malpractice, have been left out of the equation, that their higher malpractice insurance rates are not part of the debate being put forth by the administration.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has made a priority of pushing for medical liability reform. We have a broken medical liability system. This is about addressing some of the high costs of health care in America and reducing those costs, and also improving the quality of care and making sure health care is available to as many people as possible. And the President looks forward to going to Illinois tomorrow where he will meet with some doctors, as well as at least one patient, a pregnant woman who has changed doctors a number of times because doctors are being forced out of business because of skyrocketing insurance premiums and because of the frivolous lawsuits that are being filed by trial lawyers. And so he's going to be talking about this problem tomorrow.

And the part of Illinois -- the region of Illinois that he's traveling to, the Collinsville area, is an area that has been particularly hard hit by lawsuits. In fact, it was the -- there's a recent report that ranked Madison County the single best place in the country for trial lawyers to sue. There are doctors that are having to leave that area because they can't afford to practice medicine and help patients -- help their patients. There are doctors who are being forced to scale back their services. He'll be talking to a neurosurgeon and be talking to an OB/GYN doctor about this issue.

Q But this is one of those issues --

MR. McCLELLAN: This is about -- this is about addressing a very real problem for the American people. Americans -- let me mention, let me mention -- Americans --

Q -- I'm asking about the insurance companies --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, this is about solving a problem for the American people. This isn't about any one particular segment. This is a real crisis, as well. It's a national problem that requires a national solution. Americans spend more per person on the cost of litigation than any other country in the world. And unlimited and unpredictable liability awards raise the cost of health care for all Americans through higher premiums for their health insurance. And so, as a result, as I was pointing out, good doctors close up shop and people can't get the care from the doctors that they want to go to and get it when they need it. And so when health care costs rise, fewer Americans can afford health insurance, and the ranks of the uninsured increase.

So medical liability reform is a key part of expanding health insurance coverage to more Americans, and it's also a key part of reducing the cost of health care. And the President tomorrow will be, once again, urging this Congress, which has just come back into town, to move forward and protect America's doctors and patients and hospitals from the staggering out-of-control costs we face from these frivolous lawsuits, or these junk lawsuits, by passing medical liability reform this year.

Q Would the President be open to investigating, having hearings on Capitol Hill or having a commission, whatever, look into why the insurance carriers are raising their malpractice rates?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think he's talked about why those insurance rates are going up. He'll talk about that in his remarks tomorrow. He laid out some very clear principles over the course of the last couple years for moving forward on medical liability reform and making -- and fixing this broken system. We want patients getting the care they need from the doctor who they want to go to. We don't want to have to see pregnant mothers having their OB/GYN doctor go out of business or move to another area because they can't afford to practice their medicine -- then they have to switch doctors, and then they have to switch doctors again. We want them to be able to get the care they need when they need it. And you've heard the President talk about this, and he'll continue to talk about this in his remarks tomorrow in Collinsville.

Q I have an immigration question. Experts say the President's proposal to give guest cards to people who are now illegal immigrants would have -- cause astronomical costs at the local and federal level in terms of new benefit plans. I'm wondering if the President has done any kind of a cost analysis in what he thinks the actual cost of his proposal would be.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware. Again, that's something that we're working with Congress to address. The President in his press conference at the end of the year said it's something he's firmly committed to moving forward on as quickly as possible. And he stated the reasons why. I think you need to go back and look at what he said in his press conference. He stated very clearly the importance of moving forward on this temporary worker program, and the way it would address the current problem in this country and make it better.

Thank you.

END 1:24 P.M. EST

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For Immediate Release
May 20, 2008

Press Briefing by Dana Perino
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

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12:39 P.M. EDT

MS. PERINO: Hello. I do not have anything to lead off with, so questions?

Q Any update on the housing bill?

MS. PERINO: Nothing too much more beyond what I had this morning. We've received the legislation recently, late last night, and so we're in the process of carefully reviewing it. It's very important legislation and we want to make sure that we understand how the I's were dotted and the T's were crossed in the legislation that was just -- passed out of committee. So it would be premature to say whether the President could accept this legislation until we've concluded our review.

We are very encouraged that the bill appears to create a strong and independent regulator to ensure the safety and soundness of the GSEs -- that's something that the President has long called for and that we believe is the most significant component of the bill. And we also are looking at the FHA provisions of it; we want to make sure we understand the financing, and we just have some questions and we want to make sure that we go through and carefully deliberate it before we make a decision.

Q But it sounds like the initial impression is positive.

MS. PERINO: Well, we're certainly grateful for all the work that Senator Shelby has done to help -- to work with the Democrats to take the Republican principles for housing legislation and advance them in this legislation. It's obviously a very strong vote out of the committee -- 19 to 2 I believe was the vote I saw. So we'll continue to look at it, and hopefully we'll be able to get something that will help lots of people stay in their homes.

Q Speaking of Senator Shelby, he's quoted as saying that he believes the President will sign it. Is he wrong?

MS. PERINO: I think it's a little bit premature to say, but we're hopeful that we'll be able to get to that point. So we'll continue to look at it and let you know if that changes.

Q I want to ask you about the denial of the Jerusalem Post story --

Q -- when you say that the White House's preference is to solve this through peaceful, diplomatic means. That still leaves the door open, though, to planning an attack. I'm not saying you are planning an attack, but by your specifically saying that your preference is to have a peaceful, diplomatic means, doesn't that leave the door open to still --

MS. PERINO: I don't see how that changes -- I don't think that what I said today in response to a Jerusalem Post article that quotes an Army Times* piece that quotes unnamed officials who were quoting unnamed officials -- seems a little bit less than ethical to run that as a big story on their website. So what I said in there was I was restating longstanding Bush administration policy, which is to work with our international allies on a multilateral way to get the Iranians through diplomatic means, bringing economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on the Iranians to get them to change their behavior so that we could sit down at the table with them. And until they halt that nuclear enrichment we're not going to sit down with them.

But what I said in terms of, as the President said before, no President should take options off the table when dealing with any situation. So -- but I don't think I said anything different from what I've said before.

Q But on the -- go ahead.

Q Dana, it doesn't -- you don't deny the premise of the Post article, the Jerusalem Post article, which was that a senior U.S. official said that the President and Vice President were of the opinion that military action is called for in Iran?

MS. PERINO: I have no knowledge of anybody saying that to anybody in Israel, no. And as I said, I will restate that the United States position is to work with our international allies to bring diplomatic pressure to bear, both economic pressure and the diplomatic pressure that comes from working with all of our allies and also the countries in the region who have grave concerns about Iran's ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon.

And we're going to work with them, and in fact, we're working on a new set of incentives package -- a new incentives package right now that Secretary Rice is helping lead, that would continue to bring that pressure on them, and to show the Iranian people that there is a way that they could be a part of the international community; they wouldn't have to be as isolated as their government has made them. And we want to try to solve this diplomatically.

Q One quick follow on that. A broader question in the story, it also claims that there are sort of two camps in the administration: the President and the Vice President who are leaning more towards an attack, and Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates are sort of pulling them back. Is there any sort of split in the administration?

MS. PERINO: This is something that I have seen reported over the years, and I think it's just people surmising or trying to string along story lines and rumors that aren't based in fact. The President's team is well knitted up.

Q Can I ask on this one?

MS. PERINO: On this one still?

Q What about the substance of it, though? Do the President and the Vice President feel that an attack is called for -- whether someone said that in Israel, or not?

MS. PERINO: Keith, I feel that I just answered that question when I talked about what our policy is.

Q Can you answer yes or no to that?

MS. PERINO: I just told -- said what our policy is and that our preference is to solve this diplomatically. And that's what we're trying to do.

Q But that doesn't answer the question.

MS. PERINO: It does answer the question, that that is what we are working with our allies to do. But the President has said -- what I'm saying today in response to the Jerusalem Post is nothing different than from what has been said at this podium for a couple of years now.

Q But it's not quite an answer, because everyone's preference is always for peace, but someone could still think that an attack may be called for.

MS. PERINO: Look, I think that when you have a longstanding policy, such as the President has, and he's working with international allies -- we've already passed three Security Council resolutions; we're now working on an incentives package; we have multilateral agreement that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, or get the technology to be able to obtain a nuclear weapon, and we're all working towards that goal. But at the same time, the President has said that no President, no matter who it is, either him or anyone in the future, should take options off the table. It's not a smart way to negotiate.

Q Does the President -- do the President and the Vice President think an attack is called for on Iran? Yes or no?

MS. PERINO: I just said what the United States policy was, which is, our preference is to try to solve this diplomatically.

Q Look, skepticism seems warranted here, because in the run-up to the war in 2003, the line was officially that negotiations were still called for and that there was no decision to attack, when, in fact, subsequent reporting has shown that there probably was a decision to attack well before the attack took place. So why shouldn't we be skeptical of the claim that there's no intention to bomb Iran?

MS. PERINO: Bill, you can be as skeptical as you want to be. I stated what our policy is, and I don't have anything else that I can give you. I'm not going to be able to -- if you're going to be a skeptic, that's your right -- you're fourth estate, go for it.

Q On the back-and-forth between you guys and NBC News, one of the issues Ed Gillespie brings up is NBC calling Iraq a civil war for a period, and then Ed notes that it stopped around September of 2007. Then Ed asks in his exchange with NBC, "Will the network publicly declare the civil war has ended, or that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?" I'm wondering if you guys have gotten a response on that matter, and if not, are you still calling for a response from NBC?

MS. PERINO: We have not heard back from them on that specific matter. We anxiously await any response that we would get on it. But I think it's quite telling that they have been silent.

The reason that we sent the letter yesterday is because we had gotten fed up with the way that the President's policies are being mischaracterized, or the situations on the ground weren't being accurately reflected in the reporting. We had complained before. And it just reached a boiling point when things had boiled over when we believed that NBC News specifically edited out -- intentionally edited out -- something that the President said in response to a question in an interview regarding Iran, and that it mischaracterized the whole interview because of it.

As regards the civil war, I remember very distinctly how there was quite the pomp and circumstance when NBC, on the Today Show, decided to declare -- that they were declaring that Iraq was a civil war. But since then, after the surge and things certainly improved in Iraq, NBC has never had a corresponding ceremony to say that Iraq is not in a civil war. I was just curious to find out what they believe.

And the same goes with the economy. When we got the numbers just two weeks ago on the GDP for the economic growth, it said that we had grown at 0.6 percent. And yet the anchor that night decided to disavow that number. We're just curious what part of the official government data that's been coming out for years do they not agree with. So we haven't had a response on that.

And just another point on this is that President Bush is going to continue to state what United States policy is for the next eight months, and certainly during the six months that there's an election going on. If, for example, if tomorrow President Bush says that he believes that the tax cuts should be made permanent, that doesn't mean he's attacking anybody; he is stating his policy. And we just want to make sure it's really clear that we're not going to allow the President's policies to be dragged into the '08 election unnecessarily and unfairly.

Q Secretary Gates is going to be down here this afternoon. Did you find out anything about this important meeting that --

MS. PERINO: Look, the national security team meets regularly. I don't know anything -- specifics about that meeting. But I would say all meetings at the White House are important.

Q Right, but did you -- is it a national security meeting he's here for?

MS. PERINO: I don't know. If Secretary Gates is here and he's participating, I would assume it has to do something with national security. We'll try to find out. But, Roger, he's here a lot and they have a variety of different meetings. I'm not saying he was trying to get out of the hearing or anything.

Q Back to the housing question for a moment. Has the Dodd-Shelby bill removed some of the objections on the financing? I know you said you're studying the financing, but one of the objections --

MS. PERINO: That's what we're checking right now.

Q -- has been the use of taxpayer funds, he didn't want to do that. But by taking the profits from GSEs, doesn't that get around and answer that question?

MS. PERINO: That's what we're checking, because we don't believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to help lenders or speculators. We think that we should be able to help Americans who want to stay in their homes and can afford to stay in their homes find a way to do that without using taxpayer dollars. But that specific point is what we're analyzing right now in the bill.

Q Can you honestly maintain with a straight face that in an election season like this the White House was unaware that people would take that statement the President made as an attack on Obama or other Democrats?

MS. PERINO: What I'm saying is that President Bush was there at the Knesset to give a speech on the 60th anniversary of Israel and he restated longstanding United States policy. And I don't think that he should have to change or sit back and wait out for the next six months while an election is going on.

Q With all due respect, what's the difference between diplomacy and talking? How do you make diplomatic overtures or moves without talking --

MS. PERINO: I'll refer you to the handy-dandy handbook for diplomats. But, look, there's a different -- when we talk about when we would talk to Iran, it is with the condition that they would halt their nuclear uranium enrichment program. And if -- up and until they do that, we're not going to be sitting down just to talk with them to have talks. President Bush has been against sitting down just to have talks when we know that it wouldn't be fruitful and it wouldn't go anywhere; you wouldn't get any change in behavior. The whole point of our P5-plus-1 process is to work with our partners to bring the economic and diplomatic pressure to bear so that we can change behavior, and then move forward to see if we can get Iran back into the international community.

Q So if there's an indication of a change in behavior, either public or private, through a wink and a nod, then the United States will talk to Iran or Syria --

MS. PERINO: The phrase is that they would have to verifiably suspend. And so "verifiably" is an important adjective.

Q Can I just ask you on another topic, on the Koran, why the President decided it was important to directly tell Prime Minister Maliki that he had regret about it. And can you talk a little about this -- whether it was actually an apology, or what significance the White House attaches to how he --

MS. PERINO: I think we talked to you about this earlier today. The President yesterday had a regularly scheduled secure video teleconference with Prime Minister Maliki. He opened the meeting -- I believe it was either the first or the second issue that the President brought up to tell Prime Minister Maliki he had heard about the incident, where a Koran was desecrated, and he apologized for that, in the sense that he said that we take it very seriously. We were concerned about the reaction. We wanted them to know that the President knew that this was wrong, and that the commanders in the field have publicly reprimanded the soldier and removed him from Iraq.

Q Do you know -- the Iraqis have talked about a trial for this soldier. Does the President have a position on that, or let the military decide? How do you --

MS. PERINO: The military would have to decide what course of action would be -- would take place. And the Multi-National Force in Iraq is prepared to answer those questions. I talked to them a little bit earlier.

Go ahead.

Q The South Korea-U.S. beef negotiations, they seem to have gone in a strange direction where back in -- out in Seoul they're saying that the U.S. has agreed to limit the age of the cows being exported, beef being exported, and the USTR saying that's not the case. Do you have any --

MS. PERINO: I don't. I wish I -- I didn't know -- I don't have an update on it. And so instead of me trying to guess here, let me take it back and get an answer for you, and get back to you.**

Q Dana, back to the Maliki video conference, "serious concerns" seems like a little mild. Was the President outraged when he heard about this?

MS. PERINO: Yes. I'm giving you the words that the President used, but certainly -- I mean, I don't want to use all the gestures and everything, but, look, the President is concerned about the reaction in the field. He was glad that our military took immediate action, publicly reprimanded the soldier, and removed him from Iraq. Not only that, but the general in the field went and visited many of the Sunni tribal chiefs and presented them with a gift of a new Koran as a gesture of how seriously we took the issue, and that we would certainly respect their religion, and we would never condone such behavior.

Q Thank you, Dana. Two questions.

Q WorldNetDaily reports that more than 31,000 U.S. scientists, including 9,000 Ph.D.s, now signed a petition rejecting global warming, the assumption that human production of greenhouse gases is damaging the Earth's climate. My question: What is the White House reaction to these 31,000 U.S. scientists?

MS. PERINO: I would say that everyone is entitled to their opinion. What's your next question?

Q That's all?

MS. PERINO: That's all I'm going to say.

Q As you know, the California Supreme Court, by a one vote majority, has legalized same-sex marriage. And my question: Does the White House believe that there is any more legal and moral right for same-sex marriage than for marriages that are polygamous? And if so, why?

MS. PERINO: I'm just going to decline to comment. That's a -- the subject that you're talking about, in terms of the court case, is still in litigation, and the President believes in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.

Q Oh, good.

MS. PERINO: Goyal.

Q Dana, thank you. Two quick questions. One, many people are hurting around the globe as far as high oil prices are concerned. Do you believe two things: one, if the oil-producing countries, especially the Middle Eastern, they are blackmailing the -- blackmailing; and second, investors in the

-- on the New York Stock Exchange are predicting that maybe it will hit $150 a barrel, and do you think investors are blamed because there are more -- people are buying more oil on the New York Stock Exchange?

MS. PERINO: I'm going to refer you to -- there's lots of experts who can decide what's happening in the markets. I won't do that. Obviously, we think that the problems exist between the laws of supply and demand. That's the -- that is a law that's not going to be altered, even in the halls of Congress. So we believe that what we need to do is increase supply in a responsible way, and decrease our demand in a responsible way, which the President has started doing. But it's going to take us a long time to get out of this problem. And we remain terribly concerned about the high price of gasoline on families, and what they're going through. So we'll continue to make sure that, first and foremost, that Congress does no harm in exacerbating the problem.

Q One more --

MS. PERINO: I'm going to go over here.

Q What's your take here on the Justice Department Inspector General's report on terror suspect interrogations?

MS. PERINO: I just found out about it. It's, as I understand it, 400 pages long. I haven't had a chance to look at it, so I don't really have -- I'm sorry, I'm not able to provide a reaction for you here.

Q One of the things that it brings up is the friction between the -- among the FBI, the CIA, and military agents, in terms of how they did interrogations. What are the concerns here about that, that all these people are on different pages when it came to questioning?

MS. PERINO: I just -- I have no firsthand knowledge of it. I need to take a look at it, and I will get back to you this afternoon.

Q Thanks, Dana.

END 12:56 P.M. EDT

* Israel Army Radio

** The statement attributed to the Blue House spokesperson by Reuters is inaccurate. Under the protocol agreed between the United States and South Korea on April 18, South Korea has agreed to open its market to U.S. beef from cattle of all ages, with appropriate removal of SRMs. We have raised our concern with South Korean Government officials concerning the misstatement suggesting that the South Korean market is only open to U.S. beef from cattle thirty months and under. The South Korean Government is now looking into the matter.

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Latest Posts

Two Little Girls Mauled By Dogs: How They Healed

pitbullA surgeon friend of mine recently told me a story about a little girl who wandered into the territory of some pit bulls. These dogs were tied up with leashes in the neighbor’s back yard – specifically because they couldn’t be trusted to run loose near children. Tragically, the two year old wandered within their grasp after slipping through a protective kiddie gate and out of the house.

The dogs attacked her viciously, dragging her deeper within their territory and attempted to eat her alive. They tore off both her ears and shredded her chest and limbs. By the time she was discovered she was near death. The girl was rushed to the nearest trauma center – where my friend took her to the OR immediately. He spent the entire night putting the pieces back together, as it were.

A couple of days later, my astute friend noticed her having problems turning her head towards her mothers’ spoon during meal times. That observation triggered him to test her vision – and low and behold the girl was completely blind. A brain CT confirmed the clinical team’s worst fears: at some point during her resuscitation, the girl had a massive stroke, and her entire occipital lobe (the back of the brain) was damaged.

Wondering if there was anything he could do to help the girl, and devastated by what he assumed was a grave prognosis (a lifetime of blindness), my friend called a neuro-ophthalmologist for advice. Much to his amazement, the neurologist told him that her visual deficits were likely to resolve completely, because her brain would simply adapt. Children at very young ages can recover from otherwise devastating strokes because of neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to rewire itself, and recruit healthy neurons to take over for damaged tissue.

True to the neurologist’s predictions, the little girl regained her site within a year. Fortunately, her body healed extremely well too – and despite thousands of stitches, her scarring turned out to be quite minimal. Today it’s hard to tell that she’s had surgery at all.

This story holds special interest to me, as I too was mauled by a dog when I was a little girl. Although I was bitten in the face, and nearly lost my left eye, I can’t remember the last person who noticed my scars or asked about them. They simply faded with time.

The extraordinary healing powers of young tissue cannot be matched in adulthood. However, some degree of neuroplasticity lives on in each of us, offering hope for brain rehabilitation for everyone – from the forgetful to those with major impairments.

Whether you (or a loved one) have internal or external scars – healing is always possible.

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

Read more »

How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

Read more »

The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

Read more »

Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

Read more »

See all book reviews »


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Vintage Illustration Wedding Invitation

Vintage Illustration Wedding Invitation

Here’s a vintage style wedding invite that you can use for your wedding day.

This sweet design combines manual vintage flower illustration with vintage script style, best for your classy and elegant celebration. A tutorial file to guide you through the editing process is also included.

Watercolor Wreath Wedding Invitation Features:

– Req. Adobe Photoshop min. CS3

– Front & Back Design, all with Bleed 0.25 inch

– CMYK, 300dpi

– 3 Different Styles of Flower and Color

– 6 PSD Files

– Invitation 5×7 inches

– Vintage Flower Illustration

– Ready-to-Use Template

– Crop Mark, Guidelines & Safe Lines

– Editable Layers

Fonts Used:

You can download the fonts here:

Contact Us:

Feel free to ask me anything about the product! Send your email to: link in profile

Hope you like this item!


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Watch Live Matches

Michael Anaba confident Kotoko can retain Premier League crown

Published on: 26 November 2012

Asante Kotoko midfielder Michael Anaba revealed he was confident his side could retain the Premier League crown after the 2-1 win over Tema Youth.

The Porcupine Warriors were clearly the better side against the Harbour-Warriors and came away with an important win and all three points at the Tema sports stadium.

The impressive Ghana Under-20 star believed the victory over Youth had given Kotoko the necessary confidence to continue their winning ways.

â€œWe are very happy with our performance and weâ€™ll hope the victory will continue,â€ Anaba told

â€œIt was an important fixture and if you look at the history of the two teams, the game really lived up to expectation.

â€œWe are confident of continuing with our winning ways and hopefully defend our title.â€

  • Phrank Kente @ Teshie says:
    November 26, 2012 05:35 pm
    when you play the way you are playing then retaining of the title is easy for us ( Kotoko fc )...fabu the best..


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Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 9.55.41 AMObamacare is a glitch! Remove the bug.

Two years ago, the Obama administration called the near-total, initial meltdown of the Obamacare federal exchange a technical “glitch.” The term was widely ridiculed at the time, especially since it took weeks to fix the exchange’s website, healthcare.gov.

At Saturday night’s Democratic debate, front-runner Hillary Clinton called soaring health care costs and deductibles “glitches” resulting from the Affordable Care Act.

Her comments prompted quick reaction on Twitter, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said, “Clinton’s claim that premium hikes from Obamacare are just ‘glitches,’ was an insult to working families struggling to pay their health care bills.”

Clinton was responding to a question from debate moderator Martha Raddatz about how she would fix Obamacare considering the 27% increase in health insurance costs over the past five years and a 67% jump in deductibles.

Read more: CNN

Share Your Comments
Trending Now on GJWHG


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This image was lost some time after publication.

Hybrid Technologies has almost finished building what it calls the Hybrid Living Home, a concept house that shows off hundreds of energy-saving and smart-home features. Using wind turbines, solar energy, earth tubes and high-tech electrical storage, the house is designed to be completely self-sufficient, achieving that holy grail that's known as being off the grid. Hybrid Technologies is a company that develops a lithium battery-powered vehicle, and this house is designed to be compatible with that, too. Wouldn't it be great to give the finger to the electric company and all those other bloodsucking utility monopolies? But what about Internet access?

Hybrid Living Home Almost Complete [treehugger]


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Anyone who thought that the Dutch were a liberal race might think again if they come up against the IDEE machine. Standing for Innovative Digital Enforcement Environment, this 13-feet-high speed camera has just about everything it needs to resist an attack from an angry motorist.

The IDEE, which costs anything between $60,000 and $100,000, incorporates just about every single anti-vandal measurement known to delinquent man in its design. The camera's enclosed electronics are insulated against extreme heat, and the main pillar can resist just about any fire.

A thick steel base prevents the camera from being removed forcibly from the ground, and protects the device from being rammed by a pissed commuter. Impact-resistant polycarbonate glass protects the camera and flash. If the tower is attacked, then an alert goes to the local cop shop. All the data already recorded is sent to be downloaded at a traffic control base.

Anti-vandal features aside, let's have a closer look at the IDEE's detection ability. it can operate using both radar technology and induction loops in the road, and its four separate hi-res digital cameras use infra-red technology.

There are four separate high-resolution digital cameras, which use infra-red technology to flash twice so rapidly that even in very busy traffic no incidents should be missed. Four lanes of traffic can be monitored at the same time.

Currently in use in Holland, the IDEE's manufacturer has plans to flog their creation all over Europe. Lucky Europeans. [Daily Mail]


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I'm stuck indoors. First it was the Swine Flu, and now it's raining. Oh well, I'm still going to equip my iPhone with apps that'll be perfect for when the world is safer and warmer.

Doodle Jump: Kind of like a backwards Fall Down (calculator game) meets Space Invaders, this application is another mindless, yet quite addicting, game where your objective is to jump to the highest spot in the universe. Moreover, you can also compete with people around the globe, all for $1.

Hottie Detector: Maybe you're drunk at a bar with lower inhibitions, or you're looking to knock down a few egos, or even prove to your friends how hot a chick is, this hottie meter will analyze how hot that hottie truly is on the spot. $1 for your lack of judgement.

Trivial Pursuit: Once just a hot board game played with family and friends, Trivial Pursuit became a confusing TV game show, hosted by Peter Brady in the flesh. If you're not into shouting at the TV or you think board games are too old-school, this app puts the old game on a new platform with 1,000 new questions and better graphics. $5.

Mock Draft: Get ready for the NFL season with this Mock Draft application, that'll let you become a general manager and scout the best college football players for your own all-star team. It's on sale only this week only for $2 (normally $5).

Radiation Passport: If you're looking for the best ways to potentially gain superpowers—or you're trying to avoid radioactive spiders and possibly cancer—this application will help you log and calculate your run-ins with radiation and estimate your cancer risks. Stay cancer free for $3.

This Week's App News On Giz:

Swine Flu Tracker iPhone App Allows You to Panic Anywhere

Morse-It iPhone App Makes Samuel Morse Proud on His Birthday

GV Mobile iPhone App Hands On

Apple Is Serious About Gaming: Steals Xbox Senior Director of Strategy

Perfect Cocaine Simulator Will Never Make It to the iPhone App Store

Reason #1 to Get Epicurious iPhone App: Entire Contents of big Yellow Cookbook

Grab the Ask a Ninja iPhone Game Now

iPhone Developers Threatening Apple Over Outrageous App Payment Delays

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory and our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a good weekend everybody.


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This isn't just for the laydees of Gizmodo. Men make sauces too! And with a name like "Autonomous Saucier," it's practically using robot technology, right? The little sauce-stirrer has stainless steel legs and with speeds for perpetual standing-upright whizzing.

Powered by four AA batteries it'll stir for up to four hours, but with the average sauce taking under five minutes to whizz together, you shouldn't need a battery change too often. It's on sale now, for $39.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer—and if this sauce-stirring baby doesn't get you going, this miniature DIY frother might do the trick for lighter sauces. [Hammacher Schlemmer via OhGizmo]


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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

This is Sammy.  He was the first cat I ever had that was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia.  At the time, everything was dim and grim, and I was told by his vet that the kindest thing I could do was to have him euthanized.  This was back in 1989, and things have changed since.  I did not listen to that vet, but there wasn't much information back then on how to deal with Feline Leukemia- back then it was called 'Cat AIDs'.  I just provided the best home I could, the best food and medical care I could, and hoped for the best.

Sammy lived for five years after I rescued him, and he eventually died from urinary tract failure- and infection from having (sorry it sounds gross) the end of his penis cut off because he was having problems urinating.  He actually died in his carrier while waiting for veterinary care, which I have always felt horrible about.  Obviously I never went back to that vet, either.  I will have Sammy's whole story up soon at Cat Adoption Stories, but until then, I came across another site that gives really good advice about Feline Leukemia and Health Tips.  Interestingly enough, the cat she talks about also was named Sam.  She gives some good tips on how to integrate a cat that has leukemia into your household.  I think these are good tips for people who keep their pets indoors, or who have limited numbers of pets.  I have always had a different take because my pets were rescues, and most began as feral cats who have most likely already been exposed.

What you need to know is that having your cat diagnosed with Feline Leukemia is not a death sentence. They can live for many healthy, happy years if you keep on top of their medical concerns.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

New Baby Squirrel

Through Craigslist, I've found a new helper for baby squirrel. As much as I love baby animals, trying to raise them surrounded by cats is hard. At some point you have to say that as much as you care about them, you are not the optimum person to raise them.

I'll be following his new home, and hope he is doing well. Pix to follow.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

OMG cute like Koolaid

Another baby squirrel.

This one not so chewed up. And me with antibiotics. So he has lived for more than a couple of days.

I took him to the vet- a couple of them- no help whatsoever. One of the interns thought he was a dog!

I breastfed my kids, so I know how effin cute that is. This is a very close second. I have pixs, and will post them soon.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Adopt an Olive Tree?

What a clever idea! At NUDO, you can 'adopt' an Olive Tree and then receive Olive Oil from that tree throughout the year. Since it ships from overseas, I have no idea how the pricing works out, but what a great idea. If the deal included cured olives, it'd be hard for me to resist.

Seeing their website made me think it's a good time to remind people to check around in their area for a CSA community-supported agriculture) farm to join/support. For a modest monthly or yearly fee you'll get fresh, local produce and be supporting your local farmers.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Michael Vick and the Eagles? FAIL

Well, I had previously been wondering what kind of loser team would even CONSIDER signing on Michael Vick. I mean who wants a dog-hating, animal abusing, LIAR who thinks animal cruelty is fun? Not to mention his little habit of committing state and federal crimes, and taking illegal drugs?

Well, now we know! The losing team is the Philadelphia Eagles. I wonder how his poor teammates feel, knowing that the most-hated man in sports is on their team now? They can't all be dog-haters, can they?

Michael Vick- FAIL
Philadelphia Eagles- FAIL

Yeah, HERPES. Seems like one of great social things Michael Vick has done is to pass along a social disease. Herpes- the gift that keeps on giving! Michael Vick gave his college ex-girlfriend Herpes, and she sued him in civil court. They setttled for an undisclosed sum. I don't recall him denying it. So I guess that while Vick was all for torturing dogs, he's against wearing condoms. Priorities. Tip to Vick's new Eagles teammates- don't share straws with Vick.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I understand, that like all sports, money is the end-all-be-all. At the same time, though, it does involve people playing sports, and it seems like who is on your team might be pretty important. It isn't likely that your team will do well if one of your teammates was openly having an affair with your wife. It would probably bring your morale down a bit.

Is it really possible that no football players in the NFL have disgust for Michael Vick? Is there really not a chance that having him on your team would lower morale?

Why is Michael Vick still in the NFL pool anyway? Are there really not enough talented players in all of the US that one of them could replace him?

Well, that's what a lot of NFL lovers and animal haters like to keep saying. But it's true. He has done the pathetically minimum he had to based on our current justice system. He also no doubt did less than a non-celebrity would have. What people forget is that paying your debt to society does not mean that society OWES YOU. It doesn't mean people forget and that you get automatically put right back where you tumbled down from. Society does not have an obligation to treat any person a certain way just because they were FORCED to serve time for their criminal actions. Pedophile preschool teachers do not get their teaching jobs back once they're out of prison. Society does not owe any ex-criminal anything.

Michael Vick is a liar.

He lied to everyone in the NFL about his criminal activities. When asked point blank, he lied. In the press he lied and tried to put all the blame on his family and friends. He lied in court, to the judge. Who would want a liar on the team?

Michael Vick has proven he is a long-term criminal.

He enthusiastically participated in multiple state and federally illegal activities for at least 6 years. He bought property for the explicit reason to commit crimes. While on probabtion, he again committed a crime by using illegal drugs. Who would want a long-term criminal and illegal drug user on their team?

Michael Vick is a cruel and heartless dog-hater.

I have seen the pictures of where Vick's dogs were kennelled (ugh), chained and fought. Pics here Not exactly luxury accomodations for 60 plus unlucky dogs. He mistreated, starved, fought and killed numerous dogs, all so that he could get entertainment watching their misery. And, he BET on their lives. He beat, electrocuted, hung, shot and drowned dogs for their misfortune in having lost a fight or not being able to be forced to be aggressive enough. He used 'FAMILY PETS' as bait while training those dogs, and laughed while they were being attacked. He enjoyed watching animals, even his own animals, be injured and maimed- for fun! Who would want to play ball with a person like that on their team?

Actually, he was forced to in court. But he managed to fuck that up with criminality, too. He illegally took the funds to pay the fine and the poor dog's care out of his own employee's RETIREMENT funds. Which is illegal. Which is now being contested by bankruptcy court. Do you want a teammate who has to be forced to abide by the rules?

Not likely. More likely that he just wants his multi-million over-priced salary back. Check out his answers on an animal assessment questionaire. He thinks chickens are 'athletic'? Is he going to venture into cock-fighting now? It is sad that a few years of college didn't improve his 3rd grade ability to read and write. Even sadder that he was in college at all. Kudos to whoever was doing his homework and tests for him, and whoever was bribing the college. Do you want to be the team he disgraces next? Because there will be another disgrace. If he's changed so much, a good way to prove it would be to donate his first year's salary to a group offering free spay and neutering. Research shows that the majority of people convicted for child abuse or domestic abuse also abused animals. Research also shows that people who abuse children, their spouses or animals rarely stop, even after incarceration.

No, people just generally don't like liars, cheaters, animal abusers/torturers/killers and overall asshole people. People don't like it when they feel played. They don't like it when criminals have no remorse for things they've done, other than the boo-hoo loss of money. People don't like celebrities who think their shit doesn't stink, and that they shouldn't have to pay for their crimes like the common folk. People don't like people who have entitlement disorders, who think the world owes them something for being so 'special', without taking responsibility for their own actions. In fact, people don't like it when criminals claim the problem is racism (or sexism or ageism or anti-pedophilism) instead of the problem being that they just can't go by societal rules. And they especially don't like it when minorities of any colour/sex/whatever embarrass them by being criminals.

And most of all, people generally don't like assholes who enjoy causing pain and death to animals. For fun! Would you want a person like that on your team?

I look forward to seeing who signs Vick. Because as stupid as it is, some team will. I'll enjoy watching them lose. What would be really entertaining would be if some of the team-members resigned in protest. Now THAT would be a victory for the animals.

Monday, August 10, 2009

It's All Good- Veggie Chick’n Breasts in Tomato Tuscan Marinade Review

Yay, VvonV cooked dinner last night!
He made some "It's All Good" faux chicken breasts, corn on the cob and stewed beans.

I wish he'd have given me time to take a few pictures of it before we dug in, because it looked very pretty. According to him, he cooked the faux chick'n according to the package, and then topped it with sauteed onions, sweet red peppers and cherry tomatoes- with a splash of white wine. He scarfed his so quick I doubt he tasted it. We'll have to work on that...

It's been almost 24 years since I've had chicken, so I have no clue as to how close it is to the real thing. It is one of the first larger 'breast' sized analogs that seemed to get the texture right. That seems to be important to people who are just starting a vegetarian diet.

I will be writing a more in-depth review (and making it again so we have pictures) on vegan-o-rama, so look for that there.


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Arguments Heard in BDO Appeal of $521 Million Verdict

Oral arguments for BDO's appeal of the verdict in the Banco Espirito fraud case were this past Tuesday, the 16th, in front of the Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami.

If you're not familiar with this case, we'll catch you up: Banco Espirito Santo International Ltd., Banco Espirito Santo S.A., and ESB Finance all invested in E.S. Bankest L.C. BDO served as the auditor of Bankest. Crazy massive fraud (bogus accounts receivable) was going on at Bankest that was discovered by Banco Esprito. Bankest went bankrupt, their executives went to jail, Banco Espirito lost millions.

Banco sued BDO in 2004 and in 2007 a jury found the Firm liable for malpractice and gross negligence. Prior to the jury's decision, BDO CEO Jack Weisbaum testified that the firm would not be able to pay punitive damages. The jury didn't care and awarded Banco $170 million in compensatory damages and $351.7 million in punitive damages for a grand total of $521.7 million, the same amount of accounts receivable that BDO "audited". Now here were are, it's 2010, appeals process. Whew. Follow?

We spoke with Steven Thomas, who has represented Banco Espirito Santo throughout this case, earlier this week and he filled us in on many details. BDO is appealing the verdict arguing that the case should not have been bifurcated (i.e. divided into two) at trial. In other words, it sounds as though BDO has resorted to arguing technical legal points in this appeal as opposed to defending against the finding that they both performed malpractice and were grossly negligent.

As we explained above, the malpractice and gross negligence arose out of BDO's failure to discover the fraudulent accounts receivable at Bankest. At trial, Mr. Thomas told us that under cross-examination, the BDO engagement partner admitted that it was the auditors' job to find fraud and then subsequently contradicted himself when being questioned by his own counsel, saying it wasn't their job.

Regardless of what side you fall on in the whole auditors' responsibility to discover fraud argument, Mr. Thomas told us this, "I have a litigated a lot of cases on this issue and we never, ever, ever lose."

We reached out to BDO and Greenberg Traurig the law firm representing BDO for comment. Neither firm has gotten back to us.

BDO has indicated that it will appeal this case to the Florida Supreme Court if necessary and since BDO International was found to be not liable, the entire judgment falls to the U.S. firm. BDO had $620 million in revenues in its most recent fiscal year and currently has around 3,000 employees. And despite the fact that this case will not be resolved for some time, if BDO ultimately compelled to pay the damages it could have a devastating impact on the firm.


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C class third week update

As some of you may already have read from my Twitter page, I got three wins and three losses last weekend. It’s easiest if I just show the photo of the results sheet now that I managed to take one:

The photo’s quality is again a little bit bad: I lost to insei 11 by half a point, and to insei 2 by 2.5 points. Yesterday, at the Mimura dojo, I played a dojo league game against Mimura junior and lost by 1.5 points — all of these losses seem to be caused by my donating away free points in the endgame! Some endgame training is definitely in order. I did also play a 10-second game against Mimura-sensei yesterday, and the game stayed quite interesting until early endgame, when I finally messed up and lost any hope of a close game. Also, as I wrote just a bit ago, I also got a nice tsumego collection to work out from Mimura-sensei.

Seeing from the results so far, it now seems impossible for me to rise to B class next month, as I’ve way too many losses. I’ll be working my hardest not to drop to D class instead!

On another note, I got an invitation from Aoki Shinichi 9 dan earier today, to visit and receive some teaching from him! As far as I understand, it’s Kobayashi Chizu-sensei who is pulling the strings behind all of these happy coincidences, ensuring that I’ve plenty of opportunities to learn more. Aoki-sensei is quite well known in the Europe — he even spent one year in Vienna a few years ago, teaching go to westerners. I played against him about one month ago at a kenkyuukai.

As I promised last week, here is the game I played at the Mimura dojo last week, against an instructor who is an amateur 8 dan. Commentary is by the professionals from our weekly English class, including Mitani Tetsuya 7 dan, Murakami Akihide 2 dan, Ohashi Hirofumi 5 dan and Osawa Narumi 4 dan. This is likely among my best games here in Japan so far. I play black, white has komi as normal, and time settings were 20 minutes of basic time and 20 seconds per move after that.

[sgfPrepared id=”0″]

White 28 is the first odd move; the professionals suggested pushing with white f16 instead, connecting the white stones on the upper side. Black 31 becomes a great move.

Black 35 is perhaps going too far. The hanging connection of h16 instead would be enough to ensure a black lead.

Black 43 received some praise from the professionals; it’s not easy to see, but white cannot reasonably cut at g13 at the time: black has a splendid response at b14. By black 47, black has a good game going on.

White 50 is the kind of kikashi that high level go seems to be all about. If black simply answers with r16, white o17 would become a good move. I really need to compile that kikashi article I’ve been thinking about!

By black 57, black has a very solid position on the board. Japanese players call black 57 “karai”, which is a term which I haven’t heard used in western go at all! The meaning appears to be close to “(a move creating) a solid position, including a territorial profit”. Professionals appear to love “karai” moves and groups. English translation, anyone?

Black 67 is the type of move that I need to get rid of in my play; it makes the situation needlessly complicated for black. M13 instead, keeping white weak and creating some eye potential for black, is a good move. It’s enough for black to strengthen his group in sente and take the lower left corner. After white 72, a complicated fight occurs.

White 90 is slighly early, and practically a game-losing mistake. Black’s left-side group is already alive, but white’s upper-side group is not. After black 91, white is in for some real trouble.

Black 107 is a really bad move played under time pressure. L8 instead keeps the situation easy for black to handle.

At move 120, I’d almost given up hope to survive from the pinch black is in. I even played black 123 out of desperation, and it took me a moment to realize that it actually works! After black 125, black is out and white is all dead, and the game is over. Talk about a close call!

As usual, today it is time for another English class. Tomorrow I’ll go to the dojo again, Thursday is an off day, and I might go to the dojo again on Friday. After this weekend, there’ll be a two-week Christmas break from insei studies, and I may finally get some time to work on that kikashi text.

6 thoughts on “C class third week update”

  1. Great game, and very interesting commentary! I bet your opponent thought in the end: “Wow this guy is super strong, he knew J10 was there all along and just calmly played the sequence up to it!” 😉

  2. “Karai” likely refers to the adjective “karai” – hot (spicy), salty, but also tough on someone, adverse or harsh. So basically they’re likely saying “Ouch, that move just hurt white quite a bit.” or “A tough situation for white.”

    1. That connection does exist, but it doesn’t seem to be the whole truth. Taking territory is also connected to a move being karai. From what I talked with Jun Tarumi, a Japanese-speaking friend of mine, something like “being severe by taking territory” is pretty close.

      1. Ten is right (Japanese speaker here). I don’t think I’ve seen 辛い used for a move that’s not territory-oriented. I suspect it started from the phrase 地に辛い(ji ni karai). I would translate it as “being stingy on territory.”

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Low Pros f/ Travi$ Scott “100 Bottles”

Low Pros, a.k.a. A-Track & Lex Luger. Did that combo interest you a little more? “100 Bottles” is from their EP earlier this year and they revisit the project with the new video to this Travi$ Scott featured single. The video is pretty dope too — 90s video game inspired, Matrix inspired, and some weird, computerized looks that they mix in with Travis. Watch and experience above.