Highlights:
OIG Inspections in February-March of Juba, South Sudan and Khartoum, Sudan.
In Juba the only side
trips were out to the SABMiller brewery and UN Mission on the White Nile
River (earned my nickname "White Bull"; or "El Toro Blanco"). Stayed in pre-fab modular housing on Embassy Compound. Played
tennis with AMB Reno Harnish, Tim Williams and pro at local club. Watched Super Bowl at 3:00 a.m. on the compound
next to pool to see my Niners lose to Baltimore 34-31.
For more photos and narrative see: Booth Travels Blog
For more photos and narrative see: Booth Travels Blog
In Khartoum visited the National Museum, Omdurman market and the confluence of the White and Blue Nile.
For my birthday, March 19th, we went to Beaufort and stayed at our favorite hotel the Rhett House Inn and ate pepper steak at Emily's. We also went kayaking the ACE Basin with Kim and Dave.
OIG Inspection of Embassy Moscow and CONGEN St. Petersburg
Before leaving D.C. I had lunch at Pot Belly’s, near
the Department and GW campus, with former FMO colleagues (Tom Quinzio, Richard
Boohaker and Ismail Asmal), who all served at FSC/Bangkok at one time. I had worked with Tom at FSI and with Richard
and his wife Tacla, at FSC/Paris. Each
of us had retired but came back to work in the Department as Retired Annuitants
(REAs) or PSCs (Personal Service Contractors).
In fact Tom just left OBO as an Area Manager and was looking for work. Richard was working with CGFS and following,
Tacla who was in Rome. Ismail was
waiting for his wife to be confirmed as Ambassador to Ghana before they could
leave.
Doris joined me on the OIG Inspection of
Embassy Moscow and Consulate in St. Petersburg in the spring and afforded us the opportunity for sightseeing in Moscow to visit the Kremlin, Convent Gardens and the Novodevichy Cemetary. Most every night we would take walks down Old Arbat street with many shops, restaurants and street performers.
For more Photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog - Moscow; Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog - St. Petersburg
For more Photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog - Moscow; Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog - St. Petersburg
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| OIG Team |
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| Arbat Street |
In St. Petersburg visited the Hermitage Museum, Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, Church on Spilled Blood. Also visited Catherine Palace in Pushkin and Peterhof Palace.
In July we spent a couple of weeks in Paris over Bastille Day (Independence Day) and took in the festivities. Highlights included Eugene Bodin exhibit at Musee Jacqamart Andre, performance of Mozart's Requiem at the Eglise Madeleine; High Masakela at Parc Floral Jazz Festival and Lee Ritinour and Dave Grusin and New Morning Jazz club. and, visited Moret-sur-Loing, home of painter Alfred Sisley, 12th Century Notre Dame Church and along the river to St. Mammes.
For more photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Paris 2013
Participation in a live auction for Special Olympics yielded a one week stay at a cabin in the mountains in Brevard, North Carolina. We visited Dupont State Forest, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina Arboretum and kayaked the French Broad River.
For more photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog: North Carolina Mountains
We also went to Georgetown, SC with the Low Country Explorers and took a tour on Capt. Rod's boat out to a barrier island previously owned by Tom Yawkey, owner of the Boston Red Sox. The Yawkey family donated 20,000 acres of land and shoreline in Georgetown county to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Later in September we
visited Meehan cousins, John and Liz Froud, in Norwich, U.K. and toured sites
in London before embarking on a 12-day Oceania cruise to Barcelona with stops
in Bruges, Belgium; Honfleur, Saint-Malo, Concarneau, Pont-Aven, Bordeaux,
France; San Sebastian, Bilbao, Coruna, Seville, Spain; Porto and Lisbon,
Portugal before arriving in Barcelona.
Highlights in London included Churchill's War Room, Tower of London and Harrods. On the cruise highlights included Saint-Malo, famous for the location of the book “All
the Light You Can Not See”; Vineyards in Bordeaux Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; excursion
to Santiago de Compostela from the port in Coruna; Alcazar of Seville; Port wine in Porto; and, in
Barcelona La Sagrada Familia, Antoni GaudÃ's renowned unfinished church,
started in the 1880s and La Rambla.
For more photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Timeslide, Norwich, London 2013 and London to Barcelona Cruise
In October we participated in the annual Susan Komen "Race for the Cure" and in November the annual Turkey Day Run.
News of the Nation
- Feb. 12: In the first State of the Union Address of his second
term, President Obama focuses on the role government should play in
growing the economy and stabilizing the middle class. He veers away from
any ambitious proposals such as a new stimulus plan in the speech.
- Jan. 1: The Senate approve a last minute deal to raise tax
rates from 35 to 39.9 percent for those earning more than $400,000. The
deal also temporarily suspends across-the-board spending cuts. Later that
night, the House also passes the legislation. The House vote ends the long
dramatic showdown over the fiscal cliff with only a few hours left of the
112th Congress.
- Jan. 16: In response to recent massacres, including the killing of
20 first graders in Newtown, Conn., and 12
moviegoers in Aurora, Colo., President Barack
Obama introduces proposals to tighten gun-control laws.
His plan includes universal background checks for gun sales, the reinstatement
and strengthening of the assault weapons ban, limiting ammunition
magazines to a 10-round capacity, and other measures.
- Jan. 21: On Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, President Obama is sworn in for a second
term. He becomes the first president to say the word gay in an Inaugural
Address when he compares the battle for same-sex marriage to past battles
over gender and racial equality.
- April 15: Multiple bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston
Marathon. At least three people are killed. One is an eight
year old boy. More than 170 people are injured.
- June 26: The Supreme Court rules that the 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. In a 5 to 4 vote, the court rules
that DOMA violates the rights of gays and lesbians. The court also rules
that the law interferes with the rights of each state to define marriage.
- July 13: A jury in Florida finds
George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. The verdict
sparks outrage on the internet and protests in cities throughout the U.S.,
but no riots or extreme violence are reported.
- Aug. 21: Private Bradley
Manning, age 25, is sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking
over 700,000 U.S. government files to WikiLeaks, files that contained
classified U.S. military activities.
- Sept. 16: Former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis, 34, kills 12
people at the Washington Navy Yard, near the U.S. Capitol. Alexis, who had
been employed at the base by a military subcontractor, is killed in a
shootout with police.
- Oct. 1: Congress fails to agree on a budget and pass a
spending bill, causing the government to shut down.
- Oct. 16: The night before the debt ceiling deadline, both the House and Senate approve a bill to fund the government until January 15, 2014, and raise the debt limit through February 7, 2014. The bill ends the 16-day government shutdown. It also ends the Republican standoff with President Obama over the Affordable Care Act.
- Jan. 1: France sends its military forces to Mali to
fight against extreme Islamist militants. (Jan. 16): Islamist militants take about 40 foreign hostages at
a remote BP site in Algeria.
Many fear that the hostage situation is a result of the conflict in Mali.
- Jan. 22: Israeli prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is elected to a third term.
- Feb. 12: North Korea says
it has detonated a third nuclear bomb. Earlier nuclear tests were
conducted in 2006 and 2009.
- Jan. 25: Violent protests erupt throughout Egypt on
the second anniversary of the revolution. Demonstrators focus their ire on
the Muslim
Brotherhood and the government of President Mohammed
Morsi, frustrated that the country is on an ideologically
conservative path and that Morsi has failed to bolster the economy or
fulfill promises to introduce broader civil liberties and social justice.
Dozens of people are killed in the violence. Morsi declares a state of
emergency in three large cities: Suez, Ismailia, and Port Said.
- Feb. 11: Pope
Benedict XVI announces his retirement, becoming the first
pope to do so since 1415. He cites advancing age and a growing physical
weakness as his reasons for retirement. He steps down on Feb. 28.
- March 5: Hugo Chavez,
the president of Venezuela,
dies of cancer at age 58. He had been in office for 14 years.
- March 13: Cardinal Jorge Mario
Bergoglio of Argentina is elected as the new pope,
succeeding Benedict XVI. Bergoglio, 76, becomes the Catholic Church's
266th pontiff. He is the first pope from Latin America and the first
Jesuit pope. He chooses the name Francis.
- March 14: Xi Jingping assumes the presidency of China.
Of the 2,956 delegates, only one votes against Xi. He had earlier been
named chairman of the Central Military Commission and general secretary of
the Communist Party.
- April 14: Nicolas Maduro wins the special presidential election
in Venezuela the successor of Hugo Chavez.
- June 9: Edward
Snowden, a former CIA employee, admitted that he was the source
of leaks about the top-secret surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. June 21:
The U.S. government filed espionage and theft charges against Snowden, who
had earlier fled to Hong Kong. The government also requested that Hong
Kong extradite Snowden. June 23:
Fighting extradition, Snowden traveled from Hong Kong to Moscow.
- July 4: The military deposes Egyptian
president Mohammed
Morsi and suspends the constitution, saying the move is an
attempt at "national reconciliation" rather than a coup. Morsi,
however, calls it a "complete military coup." He is taken into
custody and several members of his inner circle are placed under house
arrest. The move sparks massive protests in support of Morsi.
- Aug. 1: Russia grants Edward
Snowden, the American who leaked info about U.S. surveillance,
asylum for one year. The temporary asylum allows him to leave the Moscow
airport where he has been since June.
- Aug. 14: Police raid camps in Cairo, Egypt,
where protesters have been demonstrating since the July ouster of
President Mohammed
Morsi. More than 500 people are killed, and the government
declares a state of emergency.
- Aug. 14: Israelis and Palestinians officially begin peace
talks in Jerusalem. Expectations are low going into the talks, the third
attempt to negotiate since 2000, and nearly five years since the last
attempt. The talks begin just hours after Israel releases 26 Palestinian
prisoners.
- Sep. 1: President Barack
Obama announces that he will seek Congressional approval
for military action against Syria in
response to its alleged attack with chemical weapons on civilians. Sep. 4:
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes, 10 to 7, to authorize
military action in Syria.
- Sep. 15: A U.S.-led military attack is averted and diplomacy
prevails when Russia and the U.S. reach an agreement that Syria must
provide an inventory of its chemicals weapons and production facilities
within a week and either turn over or destroy all of its chemical weapons
by mid-2014. If the government fails to comply, then the UN Security
Council will take up the issue.
- Sep. 21: Shabab militants, based in Somalia,
attack an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya,
killing nearly 70 people and wounding about 175.
- Oct. 5: U.S. commandos capture Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, a
high-ranking al-Qaeda operative who is known as Abu Anas al-Libi, in
Tripoli, Lebanon.
He was indicted for helping plan the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania.
- Nov. 1: Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan,
is killed in a CIA drone strike in Danday Darpa Khel, a militant
stronghold in North Waziristan. It is an important victory over the
Taliban for the U.S.
- Dec. 1: Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Kiev, Ukraine,
demand that President Viktor Yanukovich resign. The protesters also call
for the country to develop stronger ties to Europe and the West and move
away from Russia. The protests started earlier after Yanukovich refused to
sign political and free trade agreements with the European Union under
pressure from Russia.
- Dec. 5: Nelson
Mandela dies at age 95, after a lung infection and several
months of ill health.
Super Bowl
World Series
Recap of 2013 Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Winners
·
Australian Open Men's
Singles. Winner – Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray
·
French Open Men's
Singles. Winner– Rafael Nadal defeated David Ferrer
·
Wimbledon Men's
Singles. Winner – Andy Murray
defeated Novak Djokovic
·
US Open Men's Singles.
Winner – Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic
·
Australian Open Ladies
Singles. Winner – Victoria Azarenka defeated Li Na
·
French Open Ladies
Singles. Winner– Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova
·
Wimbledon Ladies
Singles. Winner – Marion Bartoli defeated
Sabine Lisicki
·
US Open Ladies
Singles. Winner – Serena Williams
defeated Victoria Azarenka
