A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos) 12.22.03

Yahoo,Whitehouse.gov,Reuters,AssociatedPress | 12/22/03 | TruthNtegrity

[TruthNtegrity]

The President had a busy weekend. He called the President of China to thank him for his recent comments on Taiwan and they discussed by phone how to restart North Korea nuclear talks. During the conversation Saturday night, the two leaders made a favorable appraisal of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States this month. Hu told Pres. Bush he hoped the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be realized through a way acceptable to all parties concerned.

Sunday, after attending St. John's across the street from the White House, the President met with his Security Council and Sec. of Homeland Security, Sec. Ridge. As a result of these meetings, based on the increase of chatter, the threat level has been raised to "High".

Monday, the President met with his Homeland Security Council meeting, including officials from the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after the domestic security threat level was raised Sunday from yellow, denoting an "elevated" risk of attack, to orange or "high" risk. The President also met with Iraq Administrator, Paul Bremer, for an update, the week following the capture of Saddam Hussein. The President was also scheduled to meet with Sec. Defense Rumsfeld.

President Bush scheduled several events Monday to send Hanukkah greetings to Jews celebrating the eight-day Festival of Lights this holiday season. The President was to meet in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with rabbis and Jewish community leaders in Washington. Before leaving for Camp David, Pres. Bush was scheduled to host an annual Hanukkah reception at the White House and speak at a ceremony to light a menorah, or candelabra.

Then he left for Camp David where he will spend Christmas, leaving the day after for the Crawford Ranch where the First Family will celebrate the New Year's celebration together.

The President's diplomatic day continued from Camp David. President George W. Bush swapped views with China's President Hu Jintao on ending the North Korea nuclear crisis, in a telephone call (1:45 PM Monday) which also touched on mainland tensions over Taiwan. Pres. Bush also eased the path for his Iraq debt envoy James Baker who arrives in Beijing on December 30, after visits to South Korea and Japan.

[kitkat]

Prayers for your aunt.

[TruthNtegrity]

Did you hear that the guy who invented them and marketed them, died in Maryland yesterday. He was something like 77, I think.

I thought they were fun when I was a kid but frankly, didn't think they were around anymore. I guess if you don't read comic books, you don't know they are still advertised!

[homemom]

Chocolate Rum Truffles
*I strongly suggest doubling this recipe--after all, you have to taste test several times throughout to make sure they're OK!*

1/2 c. Heavy Cream
2 T. butter (use real butter)
1 t. light corn syrup
9 oz. semi-sweet chocolate or choc. chips (milk choc. will work if you're in a bind)
3 T. rum

powdered sugar, cocoa, colored sugar, sprinkles, to roll in

Mix all ingredients but rum in saucepan and heat slowly till all melted together. Whisk in rum. Refrigerate until solid enough to roll 1" balls (or whatever size you desire) (use a spoon or melon baller to get a "chunk" of batter out, then roll between your palms till round). Roll in powd. sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, etc. if desired. Store in refrigerator.

OPTIONAL: Add more rum, as desired. The mixture will never get to the consistency you can roll it in your hands, but store it in the freezer and drizzle over ice cream--it's absolutely WONDERFUL!

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

1/2 c. heavy cream
2 T. butter (use real butter)
1 t. light corn syrup
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (or milk choc., or a combo of both)

Melt all together as above; put in refrig. till can roll them into desired size. After you've rolled them into a ball, roll in powd. sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, sprinkles, etc.

CHOCOLATE MOCHA TRUFFLES

1 C. heavy cream
1 T. ground coffee (or more if you like more mocha taste)
2 T. real butter
1 t. light corn syrup
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Mix all together and shape as above.

***The directions in the recipes I have are much more detailed; EX; mix cream, butter, corn syrup together, bring to full boil, turn off heat, add chocolate. Swirl gently but do not stir. Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then whisk slowly to combine. etc., etc., etc. I've done it both ways, and the above way (the easy way!) turns out just as yummy and is much easier! :-)

ENJOY!!!

[kitkat]

***
I've been making it a habit to answer every "Happy Holiday" greeting I get with a hearty "Merry Chritmas!" I've had no corrections or complaints and most people seem genuinely grateful for the greeting. Imagine that! :^) ***

I've been doing that for years. Sometimes, clerks will look right and left and whisper, "Merry Christmas." Sometimes, people just say thank you, but can't say the Merry Christmas words. Othertimes, I get a big smile. Use it or lose it.

[homemom]

Thanks for the extra pictures!

Now get some sleep!

[hoosierpearl]

I was wondering if you knew anything about the two soldiers in Walter Reed [who aren't there any longer] that Sgt. Mike wanted us to check on. Last I heard one went home with his parents over Thanksgiving and is going to have more surgery at Ft. Campbell and the other soldier is in Ohio. Is there anything we can do? The address I had for them is probably not good any more, it was just the Walter Reed address.

[homemom]

THANK YOU!

[homemom]

No, I didn't hear that. So what are your secrets to "raising" them? And exactly WHAT are they? My kids want to know, and so do I. I'm sure there's a web site somewhere, but I'm too busy catching up here to find it. :-)

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Prayers for Mo1's Mom..

Where have you been, Gramma?

Ms.B

[TruthNtegrity]

Rintense, they're making me work overtime! Helllp?!

For you "Cheney Chicks" here are the final pictures of the night.

Vice President Dick Cheney, and his wife, Lynn Cheney, are greeted after landing at McChord Air Force Base, near Tacoma, Wash., Monday, Dec. 22, 2003.

Vice President Dick Cheney receives a plate of food in the cafeteria line at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., Monday, Dec. 22, 2003. On his way to raise money for Republican Rep. George Nethercutt's bid for the Senate, Cheney had lunch with soldiers and airmen bound for Iraq, telling them he and President Bush 'tremendously appreciate' what they do. On his first visit to Washington since the 2000 campaign, Cheney handed out medals and praise before dining with troops at the base cafeteria.

[rintense]

Partially my fault, my dear. I neglected a weekend edition due to busy holiday stuff. :(

[TruthNtegrity]

Oh, that's okay. Mtngrl trained me to look for weekend pictures first, and so I usually wind up re-posting those that ohioWfan has added to her Friday thread! Oopsie!

But today, they kept coming out, and then more, and then more!

Now, I'm headed to bed. I have about 4 hours I still need to catch up on.

G'night all!

[ZOTnot]

Thanks, Truth,

I actually think I would DIE if I ever received the dreaded Zot; I DO try to behave for the most part, but I have posted a few things which caused me trepidation, thinking someone would label me as a troll. I was so excited that I was finally (possibly) in the top ten responders that I nearly wet my pants. It all 'depends' upon how one looks upon being in the top ten, you know.

-Zot

[hoosierpearl]

MamaB I well understand the travails of perfume. I get skin rashes from them, so there are very few that I can wear. I don't know what it is that causes the rashes. Then, hubby gets headaches from smelling perfume. AND hubby sneezes at some of them, anything that has vanilla in the name. Once I tried a sample of a new perfume, and hubby smelled it and sneezed over and over [until we got out of the store] and later I got a rash from it.
Hubby gets a headache almost everytime he flies because someone is always heavy on the perfume. Sometimes he gets sick at church if someone is wearing a lot of perfume. He's had to go outside a few times at church to get a breath of fresh air, then still gets a headache. The stuff is supposed to make you irresistible to hubby, not stay away from me/you make me sick kind of thing.

[TruthNtegrity]

One more to let everyone know there are more pictures on this page, and the previous page. The Dose, part 2.

[ohioWfan]

Princess, don't worry about the weekends. On 'normal' weekends, I usually piggyback to my Friday Dose. It's very easy for me to do, and I rather enjoy it! :o)

Next weekend might be a bit bizarre for me, but I'm thinking the President will be in hiding then anyway. (At least I HOPE he is!)

[MamaB]

Our choir has a rule that no one can wear perfume, men's cologne, etc. So many of us are allergic to it. We got a salespaper from a local store and I had to throw it away because it had such a perfume smell. It is not good for those of us who get reactions from smelling that. When I was younger, my favorite perfume was White Shoulders. Do they even make that anymore?

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Sheesh

Was it something I said?

Ms.B

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Yummers!

Thanks for posting that!

How often should I check the rum?

:-)

Ms.B

[homemom]

***How often should I check the rum?***

Well, it depends what kind of day you've had. If it's a PT day and your knee hurts, or you've been shopping wiht your husband and kids and they drove you crazy, or you've had the misfortune to see your father-in-law and he totally ignored you (theoretically of course!) then you'd definitely want to check it before you even started, just to make sure it was OK, even if you just opened a new bottle.

You should check it again while the chocolate and other ingreds. are melting together (well you're probably standing right there stirring anyway!) and then before you whisk it into the melted stuff (to make sure nothing funny happened while the rum was "breathing").

Then again after you've stirred it it, to compare the intensity of the straight rum to the intensity as it's mixed into the choc. And if you adjust the rum to chocolate ratio, that would be another good time to check it.

You should also check it periodically when it's cooling, before you roll it into balls. Adjust the rum to chocolate ratio and taste as necessary.

THEN, when your hands become sticky and chocolate covered while rolling them into balls, lick your hands (if you're still standing, that is!).