2015 Year in Review

2015 Year in Review

Highlights 

• OIG Inspection of Embassy Tokyo, Japan in February/March. (See separate blog)

Sites visited in Tokyo. 


  

 

 

For other photos and narrative see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Tokyo

Side trips to Shibamata suburb of Tokyo, Nikko, Kyoto

 

 

 For other photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Shibamata ; Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Nikko  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Kyoto

• After Japan we spent a week in Bangkok (3/21-28) visiting friends, jeweler and tailor.

• Attended the Bob Dylan concert at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center April 17.

• From April to June we participated in Low Country Explorers trips to Shem Creek, a Harbor Cruise on board the Schooner Pride and a tour and presentation at the States Port Authority Wando terminal. 

The Schooner Pride is an 84’ tall ship operating in Charleston Harbor. She is a three-masted tall ship modeled after the 18^th Century coastal trading schooners that once dotted the harbor and holds up to 49 passengers.  




South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), established in 1942, owns and operates public port facilities in Charleston, Dillon, Greer and Georgetown.  Port operations facilitate 187,200 statewide jobs and generate nearly $53 billion annual economic activity. SCPA is home to the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast at 52 feet and is the 8^th largest port in the U.S.  It can now handle vessels carrying up to 18,000 containers.  In 2017 SCPA handled 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent container units.  235,000 finished vehicles were shipped from the Columbus Street Terminal. Once a vessel ties up at the dock, the port averages 38 moves per hour per crane cross the port. Truck turn times average 23 minutes per gate mission with a nine-minute average queuing time outside the   interchange gates.

• Attended the Doobie Brothers Concert with Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles at Family Circle Stadium May 3rd.

• Attended two Spoleto Chamber Music Concerts at the Dock Street Theater then end of May. 

• Attended the Rolling Stones "Zip Code" Concert in Atlanta June 9.

• Attended "A Night in Monte Carlo" at the Library Society in  June.
• Stayed at the Rhett House Inn and attended the annual Water Festival in July.
• Took Brielle and Harlie to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden In Columbia in July.
• On August 6 attended the Hard Hat Tuning Concert for the new Gaillard Center Performance Hall.
• Continued shagging at the Folly Beach fishing pier at the Moonlight Mixers on Friday evenings during the summer.
• Toured the Spanish 16th Century ship El Galeon.  

 

• Attended Chamber Music at the Charleston Library:  "Rock & Rondo"  September 10.
• Saw the Munich Symphony at the Gaillard in November.
• Thanksgiving Dinner at Middleton Place with David. 
• Visited Raine and Dick in Rye, NH in early December and stayed at a nice B&B, the Arbor Inn.  Favorite restaurant Petey's.

• Out in San Francisco for the annual Meehan family Christmas party and saw the 49'ers at Levi Stadium play the Cincinnati Bengals and lose 24-14.
• Chef Bernard Bougnat closes restaurant. 
• New England Cruise on American Cruise Lines in May to New Bedford, MA, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Block Island, Newport and Bristol RI. 

  

 

         

 

 For other photos and narrative see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog New England Cruise

 

In September we visited Cypress Gardens with the Low Country Explorers. 

 

Uniworld cruise from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland in October with stops in Cologne, Koblenz, Cochem, Trier, Boppard, Rudesheim, Bernkastel, Speyer, including excursions to Heidelberg castle and the Black Forest in Germany, Luxembourg and Strasbourg and Colmar in France. 

 

 

  

 

   

 For other photos and narrative see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Timeslide Amsterdam to Basel

News of the Nation

 

May 12 - Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 derails in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200, as the train goes 106 mph into a curve that had a speed limit of 50 mph.

May 17 - Gunfire breaks out in Waco, Texas, between two rival biker gangs. Nine people are killed, and at least 18 are injured and 177 people are arrested.

June 17 - Dylann Roof, 21, kills nine people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Charleston, South Carolina.

June 25 - The Supreme Court rules 6-3 in favor of upholding all of the Obamacare subsidies for low-income Americans trying to purchase insurance.

June 26 - The Supreme Court rules 5-4 in favor of same sex marriage, making it legal in all 50 states.

July 16 - In Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mohammed Abdulazeez opens fire on a military recruitment center followed by a naval reserve facility seven miles away. Five people are killed, and Abdulazeez is shot and killed in a gunfight with police.

July 23 - John Russell Houser shoots 11 people in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. Two people are killed and nine are wounded. Houser kills himself after police arrive on the scene.

August 5 - The Animas River in Colorado turns orange after millions of gallons of contaminated water poured out of an abandoned mine. The accident occurs when EPA officials try to safely pump and treat the toxic water.

September 22-28 - Pope Francis becomes the "fourth head of the Church to visit the United States, nearly 50 years after Pope Paul VI made the first visit by a pontiff to the country in October 1965." While in the United States, Pope Francis visits Washington, D.C., speaks at a joint meeting of Congress, addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and holds Mass at Madison Square Garden, and attends the Festival of Families in Philadelphia.

October 1 - Gunman Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer shoots and kills nine people, injuring another nine, at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The shooter commits suicide after exchanging gunfire with officers.

October 24 - Four are killed and almost 50 are hurt when Adacia Chambers crashes a car into a crowd of spectators at Oklahoma State University's homecoming parade in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

October 29 - Paul Ryan officially becomes the 54th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, replacing the retiring John Boehner.

November 27 - Two civilians and a police officer are killed when a gunman opens fire at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in a nearly six-hour standoff. The suspected gunman is 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear.

November 30 - Officer William Porter, the first of six Baltimore police officers, goes on trial. Porter is charged with manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Freddie Gray.

December 2 - Married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire on a holiday party taking place at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing 14 people.

News of the World

January 7 - Two gunmen, Said and Cherif Kouachi, attack the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, wounding 11 and killing 12. The gunmen attack Charlie Hebdo in order to punish the magazine for the publication of cartoons that mocked the Prophet Mohammad. Later on January 9, the Kouachi brothers are shot and killed in a standoff with police in Dammartin-en-Goele, France.

January 9 - Amedy Coulibaly, an associate of Said and Cherif Kouachi, attacks a Jewish grocery store in Paris taking more than a dozen people hostage and killing four. Coulibaly also shot and killed a policewoman on January 8. Couliably is killed when police stormed the kosher market in the evening.

March 18 - Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected prime minister of Israel.

March 24 - Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes into the French Alps after taking off from Barcelona, Spain, en route to Dusseldorf, Germany. All 150 people on board are killed. On March 26, 2015, officials say that 27-year-old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit. A later investigation reveals that he had suffered from depression in the past.

March 27 - Italy's Supreme Court overturns Amanda Knox's and Raffaele Sollecito's murder convictions for the death of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher in November 2007.

April 2 - Four masked gunmen attack Garissa University College in eastern Kenya, killing 147 people and injuring 104. The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claims responsibility for the attack.

April 25 - A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal, near Kathmandu, killing more than 8,000 people and injuring 17,866. Just weeks later on May 12 a second 7.3-magnitude earthquake strikes the country.

May 2 - The Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to her second child with Prince William. Their daughter, weighing 8lbs 3oz, will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

May 9 - The World Health Organization declares the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia over, after more than a year.

July 14 - A deal is reached to substantially limit Iran's nuclear weapons program. In exchange, various international sanctions on Iran will be loosened.

July 20 - Cuba and the United States officially re-establish diplomatic relations after 54 years.

July 31 - Beijing is chosen to host of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. This will make Beijing the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics in the 120-year history of the modern games.

August 12 - Explosions occur at a warehouse in Tianjin, China, killing over a hundred people and injuring more than 700. The blasts are estimated to be the equivalent of a 2.9 magnitude earthquake.

August 20 - Greece receives the first portion of its third bailout. All of the countries that use the euro have agreed in principle to the bailout; however, the IMF did not contribute direct financial support, unlike in previous bailouts and is only monitoring the situation. This package is worth up to 86 Billion euros ($95 billion).

September 18 - U.S. regulators say that Volkswagen has programmed some 500,000 vehicles to emit lower levels of harmful emissions in official tests than on the roads. Volkswagen later reveals that internal investigations had found significant discrepancies in 11 million vehicles worldwide.

September 19 - Pope Francis visits Cuba for the first time and praises the reconciliations taking place between Cuba and the United States. Francis also asks Cuba to allow for more religious freedom as the communist country prepares to build the first Catholic Church since the Cuban Revolution.

September - During the annual Hajj pilgrimage, a stampede kills more than 700 people and injures nearly 900 others, according to state media. The incident occurs during the ritual known as "stoning the devil" in the tent city of Mina, Saudi Arabia.

October 23 - Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded, makes landfall as a Category 5 storm over southwestern Mexico.

October 31 - Kogalymavia Flight 9268, a Russian passenger plane breaks into pieces before hitting the ground in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard.

November 13 - Three teams of gun-wielding ISIS suicide bombers hit six locations around Paris, killing 130 people and wounding hundreds.

November 24 - Turkey shoots down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkey says it hit the plane after it violated Turkey's airspace and ignored 10 warnings - which Russia denies.

December 12 - A landmark climate change agreement is approved in Paris at the 21st Conference of Parties, or COP21.

December 28 - The Iraqi military announces it has retaken the city of Ramadi from ISIS.

Movies:

"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" won the Oscar for best picture at the 87th Academy Awards.

Eddie Redmayne won the lead actor award for "The Theory of Everything," and the lead actress Oscar went to Julianne Moore for "Still Alice." Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"  and J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash" won for supporting actress and supporting actor.

Super Bowl

With the Seattle Seahawks sitting on the 4 yard-line with one minute remaining and down by four points, it looked as though the New England Patriots were headed to another disappointing Super Bowl finish. But the Seahawks made the controversial decision to throw the ball, the Patriots Malcom Butler intercepted on the 1-yard line and New England went on to win, 28-24. Tom Brady mounted a comeback, throwing two touchdowns in the final eight minutes to guide his team to the win.
 

World Series

The 2015 World Series was between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals. The Royals won the series 4 games to 1. Catcher Salvador Pérez, who batted 8-for-22 (.364) in the series, won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. He became the first catcher to win the award since Pat Borders won it in the 1992 World Series and the second time a Venezuelan player, following Pablo Sandoval, who won it in the 2012 World Series.

                                                     

Recap of 2015 Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Winners

·         Australian Open Men's Singles. Winner –  Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray

·         French Open Men's Singles. Winner– Stan Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic

·         Wimbledon Men's Singles. Winner –  Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer

·         US Open Men's Singles. Winner –  Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer

 

·         Australian Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova

·         French Open Ladies Singles. Winner– Serena Williams defeated Lucie Safarova

·         Wimbledon Ladies Singles. Winner – Serena Williams defeated Garbine Muguruza

·         US Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Flavia Pennetta defeated Roberta Vinci

 

OIG Inspection of Embassy Tokyo

Overview:

Japan has the world's third-largest economy, having achieved remarkable growth in the second half of the 20th Century after the devastation of the Second World War.  Its role in the international community is considerable. It is a major aid donor, and a source of global capital and credit. More than three quarters of the population live in sprawling cities on the coastal fringes of Japan's four mountainous, heavily wooded islands.  Japan's rapid post-war expansion - propelled by highly successful car and consumer electronics industries - ran out of steam by the 1990s under a mounting debt burden that successive governments have failed to address.  Japan's relations with its neighbors are still heavily influenced by the legacy of Japanese actions before and during the Second World War. Japan has found it difficult to accept and atone for its treatment of the citizens of countries it occupied.

Crown Prince Naruhito succeeded to the throne as emperor when his father Akihito abdicated on the last day of April 2019, after a reign of 30 years.  Akihito had no political power, but played an important role in working to heal the wounds of a war waged across Asia in the name of his own father, the Emperor Hirohito. He also promoted a more approachable image of the imperial family among the Japanese public, a style that the new emperor is expected to continue.  Emperor Naruhito, who studied at Oxford University, has said that his reign will bear the name Reiwa, which "beautiful harmony".

This scion of a political dynasty was elected leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party on the resignation of Yoshihide Suga, who had beaten him to the post and the premiership a year earlier.  Mr Suga resigned over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing the former foreign minister to take over.  Mr Kishida is seen as more liberal than his recent predecessors and is expected to steer the government slightly to the left after winning a snap election in October 2021.

Source:  BBC Country Profile

OIG Team:

OIG inspected the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from January 6 through March 27, 2015. Members of the team also inspected U.S. Consulates in Sapporo, Osaka-Kobe, Fukuoka, and Naha and the American Presence Post in Nagoya from February 12 to March 9, 2015. Eileen A. Malloy was Team Leader.  She was the Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and before that CG in Sydney.  Paul Cantrell, at the last minute replaced Caroline Mangelsdorf, as the Deputy Team Leader other teammates included David Bocskor (SY) Ronda Capeles (Mgmt), Calvin Carlsen (SY), Brett Fegley (IT), Michael J. Hurley (PD), Dolores J. Hylander (IT), John Philibin (SY) Lisa Piascik (CONS), Keith Powell (CONS), Richard Sypher (SY), Timothy Wildy (Lead Mgmt), Seth Winnick, and Jack Zetkul both POL.  The 16 team members were pretty spread out between the ANA Intercontinental, where we stayed, near the embassy and the Marriott.  The hotel was in the Roppongi area with a huge mall (Ark Hills) with a concert hall and many restaurants.  Both Tim and Ronda split travel out to the Consulates and I was content to just stay in Tokyo.      

American Embassy Tokyo:

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy was Ambassador.  Paul A. Wedderien was the Management Counselor, very experienced and well respected.  The FMO was Neil Eynon. Neil ended up being the USDO at CGFS/BKK and then the Budget Chief for the NEA/SCA bureau. 

Findings:

OIG made 65 recommendations intended to improve Embassy Tokyo’s operations and programs. The report addresses the need to improve strategic planning, streamline the organization of embassy staff, and eliminate unnecessary positions. OIG recommended the embassy terminate a few services and benefits that either are not justified or are contrary to regulations. The report also recommends strengthening management controls, communication security, and the oversight of grants management. Although the embassy’s management section has made significant progress on cost containment, senior managers should pay greater attention to management controls over travel and official residence allowances. The OIG team identified $122K in cost savings and $2.3 million in funds put to better use during the inspection.

In 2014, to contain cost, the embassy transferred 70 percent of its voucher processing to the Department’s Post Support Unit (PSU).  The cost to process a voucher in Japan was three times higher than at PSU.  The transfer resulted in the elimination of at least two voucher examiner positions.

In terms of Financial Management there were inconsistencies in billing methods for Official Residence Employees (ORE) staff working representational events.  OIG counseled the staff to use one procedure and reminded the financial management staff that no more than 50 percent of guests on any representational event guest lists should be Executive Branch employees.   ORE salaries were paid directly to staff electronic funds transfer directly to their bank accounts. The ORE staff are not considered employees of the embassy but personal staff of the AMB and DCM and therefore needed to establish an alternative procedure to allow to pay their staffs directly. This is a continuing issue for many embassies which requires the DoS Assistant Secretary for Management to rule over L to change the regulations. 

Being a political appointee Ambassador Kennedy knew very little about the State Department regulations regarding procurement, travel or representation.  In reviewing payment vouchers we discovered the embassy had purchased 100 copies of her book "Poems to Learn By" as representational gifts.  Also, there were issues with claims being made on a couple of travel vouchers for herself, Chief of Staff and husband with questionable personal versus official travel and routing, excessive claims for transportation or no receipts attached.   The Ambassador ended up reimbursing the USG immediately for these unauthorized expenses without any objection. 

The embassy disclosed that the former Class B cashier resigned in January 2015 to avoid disciplinary action for abusing accommodation exchange services. The U.S. Disbursing Officer at CGFS/Bangkok had actually discovered the wrongdoing on the part of the Cashier.  The regional security officer investigated the incident and referred the case to Diplomatic Security/Office of Special Investigations, which deemed the case a violation of cashier regulations and an administrative error rather than a criminal offense. Subsequently, the financial management officer discovered a shortage of $700 in the former cashier’s accountability and declared a fiscal irregularity.

The embassy was also providing in-house accommodation services without documenting the reason for providing this service and without the Ambassador’s approval as required by regulations.   The FMO needed to conduct a review of cash requirements to determine an adequate level of the cashier’s permanent advance.

Human Resources:  The locally employed staff position descriptions needed to be updated and many of the performance reviews by supervisors were not completed by the prescribed due date.  Eligible family members were double dipping and receiving the post allowance which was terminated.  We recommended that Equal Employment Opportunity and discriminatory harassment training be provided to mission staff and that supervisors must report all allegations of sexual harassment to the Office of Civil Rights.

General Services:  The embassy needed to designate, train, and certify contracting officer’s representatives for contracts. Also, should terminate all shuttle services that have not been justified in accordance with regulations.  The Mission’s Motor Vehicle Policy should be updated to include constituent post specific information, other agency use, detailed operating procedures, vehicle safety standards, and liability limits.  The embassy leased 68 residential units, including two principal officer’s residences and eight units under the living quarters allowance (LQA) program. The embassy needed to establish procedures to review leases and conduct residential safety, health, and fire prevention inspections on all LQA program housing and update the Housing Handbook.

Facilities:  Mission Japan’s Government-owned properties include the embassy office building, three consulate office buildings, the chief of mission residence, the deputy chief of mission residence, a warehouse, the Marine security guard quarters, domestic servants’ quarters, recreational facilities, a language school and director’s residence, one principal officer residence, and 179 residential units. The embassy leases two consulate office buildings and two American centers. Major renovations to these facilities had been delayed due to funding limitations.  The embassy was working to secure funding to for renovating facilities and replacing the heating and air conditioning systems in the chancery and at consulate office buildings.

The issue of domestic staff being housed in a U.S. Government-Owned facility was brought up with the Office of Legal Counsel in 2008.  The legal opinion cautioned that the legality of operating living quarters for private domestic servants of U.S. Government employees on U.S. Government premises is highly doubtful under Federal appropriations/employment law.  We recommended that the embassy terminate housing its private domestic staff of its direct-hire officers in a separate Government-owned facility.

Highlights:

Doris joined me midway through the inspection and we were able to see more of Tokyo and especially how to travel on the Tokyo Metro which included nine lines and 180 stations.  We visited the Meiji shrine, Kaminarimon Gate and Sensoji Temple, Imperial Palace garden, famous Ginza and Akihabara shopping areas, Hamarikyu Garden and the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park.   We even attended a performance at the Kabuki theater.  Doris was able to take a couple of separate sightseeing tours of Tokyo as well.  See the attached blog for pictures of the sites in Tokyo as well as our trips to Nikko and Kyoto.       

Japan - Tokyo - March 2015 | Doris and Bill (dorisandbilltraveladventures.blogspot.com)

I made a day trip out to Shibamata just a 30-minute train ride. 

Shopping area and entrance 

Garden 

Some of the Japanese food we sampled.  Also enjoyed going out with Paul and Calvin to sample some "cleansing" beer at a local brewery.   

Raw fish       

  

                                                                                       Box of Appetizers

Tempura

                                                                    

Shabu Shabu

Pancake