Howard Baker 1925-2014

Former Senator Howard Baker, known for posing the question "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" while serving on the committee investigating the Watergate scandal, has died at age 88 at his home in Huntsville, Tennessee.  He was the first Republican popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee, and became Majority Leader after the Republicans took the Senate in the 1980 election.  After his time in the Senate, Baker became chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan, an envoy to Russia under President George H. W. Bush and Ambassador to Japan under President George W. Bush.

Howard Henry Baker Jr. was born in Huntsville, Tennessee on November 15, 1925.  His mother, Dora, died when he was eight years old.  His father, Howard Baker Sr., served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1951 until his death in 1964, whereupon his widow, the former Irene Bailey, was elected to serve out his term.  Baker became a champion debater in elementary school, graduated from a military academy, studied electrical engineering at the University of the South and Tulane, served as a lieutenant, jr. grade in the U.S. Navy toward the end of World War II, and earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Tennessee.  He was married to Joy Dirksen, daughter of Senator Everett Dirksen (R-Ill), until her death from cancer.  He later married another former Senator, Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan).  Besides Kassebaum, he is survived by his two children, four grandchildren, a sister and a half-sister.

Read more at The Tennessean, CNN, The New York Times, USA Today, MSN News and ABC News.

9-0, Twice

The Supreme Court rendered two unanimous decisions today, one of which affects the president:

From the Washington Times, the court strikes down Obama's recess appointments, which were made when the Senate was not actually at recess.

From USA Today, the court strikes down a Massachusetts law requiring demonstrators to remain at least 35 feet away from abortion clinics.  (via Jill Stanek)

Illegal Aliens To Be Housed At Border Patrol Facility

From Fox News (and the "you gotta be kidding me" department):

The federal government has found a place in New Mexico to help house the tide of humanity pouring in from Mexico: The Border Patrol Academy, the very facility where agents are supposed to be trained to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S.

I guess we can look at the bright side.  The Border Patrol trainees could have a chance to familiarize themselves with some genuine illegal aliens.  What's next, prisoners to be housed at a police academy?

Read the full story at the above link.

DOC: Economy Contracted By 2.9% During First Quarter

The Department of Commerce has the duty of reporting on the state of the economy every three months.  In doing so, they give a preliminary estimate, which is later revised.  Today, the DOC stated that the US GDP contracted during the first quarter of 2014 by a 2.9% annual rate.  The rate had previously been estimated to have been a contraction of 1.0%.

Read the story at CNBC.

Meriam Ibrahim Rearrested At Airport

Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim, who had been released from prison less than 24 hours earlier, after facing a charge of apostasy by leaving Islam (which she has never practiced), has been re-arrested with her family at the Khartoum airport.  According to their lawyer, no reason was given for their detention.

Read the story at The Telegraph, BBC World, The Christian Post and CNN.

UPDATE:  The BBC article is now saying that Ibrahim and her family have been released again.

Saturday Links

With the weekend upon us, here are some things recently in the news:

From Channel 4 News, some Iraqis are adapting to life under ISIS rule.

From American Thinker, America is now "importing the problems abortion was supposed to eliminate".

From D. C. Clothesline, a Baltimore cop is charged with animal cruelty for allegedly slitting a dog's throat.

From The Roanoke Times, federal officials have dropped their plans to shelter illegal immigrant children at St. Paul's College.

From The Daily Caller, Vice President Biden says that some of the "Dream Deluge" illegal immigrants may get citizenship.

From Yahoo News, hundreds in Afghanistan protest alleged fraud in last week's presidential runoff election.

From ABC News, a Belorussian human rights activist has been released from jail after three years.

From CNYCentral, an atheist in Greece, New York has been given the honor of delivering the opening prayer at a town board meeting.  To whom or what he will be praying has not yet been determined.

From Bloomberg, Russian President Vladimir Putin orders his troops to be on combat alert.

From Fox News, a home invasion case in Ferndale, Washington is solved thanks to help from the home's 4-year-old resident.

And from Barstool Sports, a driver in Milwaukee finds a Starbucks drive-thru hard to drive through, because it doesn't actually exist.

March For Marriage 2014, Part 2

At the March For Marriage, there were quite a few speakers.  Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) was joined by an interpreter who rendered his speech into Spanish.

Here's another shot of Santorum and the interpreter.

The definition of marriage may seem like a Christian concern, but these Jewish men were also there to weigh in.

This George Washington re-enactor was kind enough to pose for a picture.

The last speaker was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R).  I must confess that I did not take a photo of all the speakers.

With the speeches over with, it was time to march.

I swung around to take a shot of the marchers behind me.

I took only one photo when we were near the Supreme Court, of which this is the front.  If you were a pedestrian, you had 13 seconds left to cross the street.

March For Marriage 2014, Part 1

My participation in political rallies took a different turn earlier today as I attended the 2014 March For Marriage.  The event started in front of the west side of the Capitol with some music being played through the PA system, but was officially opened with an acapella version of The Star Spangled Banner by Alex Holt & Free Worship followed by a pretty long series of speeches.  When the speeches were finished, we marched up to the Supreme Court building, which is across the street from the east side of the Capitol.

Here are some participants walking into the area east of the Capitol.

As I continued to approach the Capitol, I took this shot of some people in the crowd.

Looking back to where I had entered the Capitol grounds, more people were coming in.  Some people carried signs that said "Every child deserves a mom & dad" on one side and "Cada niño merece mama y papa" on the other.   A large number of participants were Hispanic.

Someone on stage tests a microphone as the crowd continues to gather.

The Colors are presented.

Brian Brown, of the National Organization for Marriage, was what you could call the master of ceremonies.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, whom former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal) tried to talk out of attending the march, was nonetheless there to give his speech.

Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan) had his family join him at the podium.

To be continued in Part 2.

Return To OAS - And Some Exercise

After being away for so long, today I finally went back down to Washington, DC to check up on Operation American Spring.  As it turned out, there were only a few people hanging around at our spot, known as Camp Liberty.  There was only one sign present, held to a frame of PVC pipe by elastic bands.  Chloe the Patriotic Pooch barked at me and then turned over for a belly rub.

With some help, I got this closer shot of the OAS flag.

During the day, I walked all the way down to the Korean War Memorial.  I had been there several times before, but had never gotten any pictures.  Here are most of the statues, which look like men advancing through harsh terrain.  You can see part of the reflecting wall to the left.

Here are most of the statues from a different angle.

This is part of the reflecting wall.  You can see reflections of some statues and surrounding trees, along with the pictures incorporated into the wall.

On the way back to Camp Liberty, I took a shot of the John Paul Jones Memorial.  The statue faces north, and is therefore never in sunlight, but with a cloud passing overhead, the background was also in shade.

Residents Of Presidents In Illinois

After my swing through Iowa, I turned eastward and stopped in Galena, Illinois and made a brief stop at the home of General and eventual President Ulysses Grant, who lived in the house just after the civil war.  Here's the house as seen from the adjacent street.

Near the house is this statue of First Lady Julia Dent Grant.

Across the street was this cabin.  Like the cabin near the "world's smallest church" in Iowa, this cabin has been transported away from its original location.

After visiting Galena, I proceeded eastward and southward to Dixon and the boyhood home of President Ronald Reagan, next to which is this statue of him.

Here's the house itself, which was restored in 1984, just in time for a visit from its famous former occupant.  In the garage to the right and behind the house is a restored Ford Model-T.