- Implementation of ISO 9000 quality management system which established detailed standards for employee work requirements by position with annual certification.
- Began implementation of Paper Check Conversion (PCC) program with embassy cashiers to allow for personal checks from American staff to be immediately debited to the employee's bank account, which eliminated the opportunity to take advantage of the "float". Resulted in the worldwide deployment.
- Major update to the Cashier User Guide released January 20th.
- Continued efforts to increase electronic payments including upgrading to the Society of Worldwide Inter-bank Fund Transfer (SWIFT) format.
- February 14-15 travel to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH to give a presentation on Global Financial Services financial support for USAF operations overseas.
- Inter Agency conference March 14-15.
- April 18-22 FMO Conference in Vienna, Austria
- June 7-9 TDY to FSC/Bangkok with stopover in San Francisco on the return.
- Maintained contact with Citibank representative Ed Maloney for liaison with support for USDO banks overseas.
- October 25 - 27 TDY to Athens for pilot Resource Allocation Budget Initiation Toolkit (RABIT) project.
- November 16 participated in the E2 pilot..
- Implemented Debit Card program.
- While attending an ICASS conference in Vienna I enjoyed sightseeing with Tom Quinzio and Ralph Hamilton visiting a Leonardo De Vinci exhibit and the National Gallery particularly the Gustav Klimt paintings.
- Watching Charleston Battery soccer matches at Blackbaud Stadium and Charleston Riverdogs (Class 2a Yankees) baseball at Joe Riley park.
- At this year's Family Circle Cup Tennis Tournament Justine Henin defeated Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-4.
- Played League tennis for 60+ team "Viagra Boys" travelling around the area to Summerville (Pine Forest); Seabrook Island, Dunes West, Wild Dunes, Snee Farm, Goose Creek and others.
- Joined Toastmasters but didn't fair too well I was envious of those other members who were so much more smarter and more eloquent than me.
- Visit to Corsica:
- Sailing with Alain Bouguane (See separate Blog) Corsica Trip
- Shopping the local market with Corsican salami, fresh fish, fruit and veggies.
- Road trip south to the towns of Bonafacio and Porto Vecchio
- Visiting northern coastal towns.
- Continued visits to family in Falls Church, VA on long weekends including Patrick's graduation form High School June 22. Patrick excelled in Auto Shop and ended up working as an Auto Technician and then mechanic for a couple of Ford dealerships for over 14 years before being employed by Fairfax Country.
- July 29-31 Doris and I drive to Asheville, NC and visit Biltmore estate.
- August 4-10 Touring Ireland and attending the Meehan Family Reunion in County Sligo with Jeffrey (See Separate Blog)
- September 30 - October 5 trip to York, Maine to visit Dick and Raine.
- November 18 - 22 visit to San Francisco to visit the brothers and Meehan relatives.
- North Charleston Performing Arts Center and other Charleston Jazz and Charleston Symphony Orchestra performances throughout the year.
- December 21-24 travel to Northern Virginia to visit Jeffrey and Patrick.
· George W. Bush is officially sworn in for his second term as president (Jan. 20).
· In his State of the Union address, President Bush announces his plan to reform Social Security (Feb. 2). Despite months of campaigning, his plan receives only a lukewarm reception.
· Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement (July 1).
· President Bush signs the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will remove trade barriers between the U.S. and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Aug. 2).
· Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, dies (Sept. 3).
· John Roberts becomes 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (Sept 22).
· Another major hurricane, Rita, ravages the Gulf coast (Sept. 23).
· House majority leader Tom Delay is accused of conspiring to violate Texas's election laws. He steps aside from his House leadership position (Sept. 28).
· Number of deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 2,000 (Oct. 25).
· A federal grand jury indicts I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, with obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with a White House leak investigation. (Oct. 28).
· California Republican congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigns after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes (Nov. 28).
· The Sept. 11 Public Discourse Project reports that the country is still "alarmingly vulnerable to terrorist strikes." (Dec. 5).
· President Bush selects Harriet Miers, White House counsel, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Oct 3). Miers withdraws her nomination after strong criticism from the president's conservative base (Oct. 27).
· The press reveals that in 2002, Bush signed a presidential order to allow the National Security Agency to spy on Americans suspected of being connected to terrorist activity without warrants. (Dec. 15).
· The Terry Schiavo case becomes the focus of an emotionally charged battle in Congress (March 20).
· Hurricane Katrina wreaks catastrophic damage on the Gulf coast; more than 1,000 die and millions are left homeless. Americans are shaken not simply by the magnitude of the disaster but by how ill-prepared all levels of government are in its aftermath. (Aug. 25-30). See also Hurricane Katrina Timeline.
· President Bush nominates conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court (Oct. 31).
· World Events:
- Sudanese government and Southern rebels sign a peace agreement to end a 20-year civil war that has claimed the lives of two million people (Jan. 9).
· The Syrian military, stationed in Lebanon for 29 years, withdraws (April 26).
· London hit by Islamic terrorist bombings, killing 52 and wounding about 700. It is Britain's worst attack since World War II (July 7).
· Former Teheran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative, wins Iran's presidential election with 62% of the vote. He defiantly pursues Iran's nuclear ambitions over the course of his first year in office (June 24).
· Mahmoud Abbas wins presidency of the Palestinian Authority in a landslide. This is the first presidential election for Palestinians since 1996 (Jan. 9).
· Iraqi elections to select a 275-seat National Assembly take place despite threats of violence (Jan. 30). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
· Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri—a nationalist who had called for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon—is assassinated (Feb. 14). Weeks of protests ensue.
· Violent protests follow elections in Kygyzstan (March 13), which international monitors deem severely flawed. President Askar Akayev flees the country and then resigns (April 4).
· Pope John Paul II Dies (April 2). Benedict XVI becomes the next pope (April 24).
· Tony Blair becomes first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms, but his party loses a large number of seats in the elections (May 5).
· The European Union abandons plans to ratify the proposed European constitution by 2006 after both France and the Netherlands vote against it (June 16).
· Group of Eight industrial nations pledge to double aid to Africa to $50 billion a year by 2010, cancel the debt of many poor countries, and open trade (July 8).
· A 7.6 earthquake centered in the Pakistani-controlled part of the Kashmir region kills more than 80,000 and leaves an estimated 4 million homeless (Oct. 2).
· Millions of Iraqi voters ratify a new constitution (Oct. 15).
· Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein goes on trial for the killing of 143 people in the town of Dujail, Iraq, in 1982 (Oct 19).
· Several weeks of violent rioting begins in the impoverished French-Arab and French-African suburbs of Paris after two boys are accidentally killed while hiding from police (Oct 27).
· Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes Africa's first woman elected head of state (Nov. 11).
· Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon quits as head of the Likud Party, which he founded, to start a new, more centrist organization, called Kadima (Nov. 21).
· About 11 million Iraqis (70% of the country's registered voters) turn out to select their first permanent Parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein (Dec. 15). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
· Worldwide aid pours in to help the eleven Asian countries devastated by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami (Jan.). See Tsunami Factfile.
· Israel begins evacuating about 8,000 Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip, which has been occupied by Israel for the last 38 years (Aug. 15).
· Pentagon assessment finds Iraq's police force is, at best, "partially capable" of fighting the country's insurgency. The U.S.'s eventual withdrawal plan hinges upon Iraqi security forces replacing U.S. soldiers: "As Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down," President Bush had stated (July 20). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.
· The Irish Republican Army announces it is officially ending its violent campaign for a united Ireland and will instead pursue its goals politically (July 27). See also Northern Ireland Peace Process.
· The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) sign a peace accord to end their nearly 30-year-long civil war (Aug. 15).
· Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, which narrowly prevailed over Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party in September elections becomes the country's first female chancellor (Oct. 10).
