Huge markup on imported foods. Why?

[webfact]

Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush dead at 92 - family

By Will Dunham

 

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush listens to her son, President George W. Bush, as he speaks at an event on social security reform in Orlando, Florida March 18, 2005. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush, the only woman to see her husband and son sworn in as U.S. president, died on Tuesday, the Bush family said. She was 92.

 

Bush was the wife of the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.

 

The Bush family had announced in a statement on April 15 that she was in failing health, had decided not to seek further medical treatment and instead would focus on "comfort care."

 

Bush reportedly had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart problems in recent years.

 

Barbara Bush was dubbed "The Silver Fox" by her husband and children. She was known for her snow-white hair and for being fiercely protective of her family.

 

She was first lady when her husband was in the White House from 1989 to 1993. Her son, Republican George Walker Bush, triumphed in the disputed 2000 U.S. election and was president from 2001 to 2009. The father-and-son presidents were sometimes referred to as "Bush 41" and "Bush 43."

 

The Bushes had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January 2018.

 

Bush had an independent streak and could be sharp-tongued. As first lady, she promoted literacy and reading but said she was more interested in running a household than in helping her husband run the country.

 

She discouraged speculation that she wielded political influence with the president like her predecessors - Ronald Reagan's wife, Nancy Reagan, and Jimmy Carter's wife, Rosalynn Carter.

 

"I don't fool around with his office and he doesn't fool around with my household," she once said.

 

"She'll speak her mind but only to him," said Jack Steel, a longtime Bush aide.

 

The only other woman to be both wife and mother of U.S. presidents was Abigail Adams, the first lady from 1797 to 1801. She was a major influence on husband John Adams, the nation's second president, but died before son John Quincy Adams was elected president in 1824.

 

Another of Bush's sons, Jeb, who served as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and she campaigned for him before he dropped out of the race.

 

The Bushes had six children. A daughter, Robin, died of leukaemia in 1953 at age 3. Barbara Bush's hair began to turn prematurely white after the shock of the girl's death. In addition to George W. and Jeb, the other Bush children were sons Neil and Marvin and daughter Dorothy.

 

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President George. H.W. Bush (C) smiles at his wife Barbara (L), as their son former President George W. Bush (R) laughs, during the "All Together Now - A Celebration of Service" at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington March 21, 2011. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

 

The Bushes married on Jan. 6, 1945, and Barbara set up households in numerous cities as her husband moved from being a Texas oilman to being a member of Congress, Republican Party leader, U.S. envoy to China and the United Nations and head of the CIA.

 

George W. Bush made no secret that when he was growing up, it was his mother he had to answer to when he got into trouble.

 

'RHYMES WITH RICH'

Barbara Bush sometimes made biting remarks, particularly when she felt the need to defend her husband. One notable example came in 1984 when George H.W. was seeking re-election as vice president under Reagan, a post he held from 1981 until becoming president in 1989.

 

She told reporters that Geraldine Ferraro, her husband's Democratic rival for the vice presidency, was a "4 million dollar ... I can't say it but it rhymes with 'rich.'" She apologised to Ferraro, the first woman running for U.S. vice president on a major-party ticket.

 

Texas Governor Ann Richards mocked her husband at the 1988 Democratic convention - saying "poor George ... was born with a silver foot in his mouth" - and Barbara henceforth referred to Richards as "that woman."

 

In 2012, Bush dismissed the political ambitions of U.S. conservative darling Sarah Palin, saying, "I think she's very happy in Alaska - and I hope she'll stay there."

 

Bush generally refused to discuss publicly her personal views on controversial topics such as abortion, an issue on which she was believed to differ from her husband's more conservative stance.

 

But during her husband's 1992 re-election race, which he lost to Democrat Bill Clinton, she told reporters that abortion and homosexuality were "personal things" that should be left out of political conventions and party platforms. "I don't think that's healthy for the country when anyone thinks their morals are better than anyone else's," she said.

 

Opinion polls often showed her popularity as first lady exceeding her husband's as president. "I don't threaten anyone," she said. "That's because I'm everyone's grandma."

 

PUBLISHER'S DAUGHTER

A year younger than her husband, she was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, and grew up in Rye, New York. Her father was Marvin Pierce, publisher of McCall's magazine.

 

She was home from boarding school in 1941 when she met her future husband at a Christmas party in Connecticut. She dropped out of prestigious Smith College to marry Bush, then a young naval aviator home on leave from World War Two.

 

George Bush said marrying Barbara, whom he called "Bar," was "the thing I did right." But the marriage nearly did not take place. While they were engaged, his bomber was shot down by the Japanese in the Pacific in 1944. He bailed out and was rescued in the ocean by a submarine crew but his crew mates died.

 

"When you're 18, you think everybody is invincible. ... I mean, that was stupid - but I knew he was going to come home. He was Superman," she told CNN in 2003.

 

After leaving the White House, she found time to write her memoirs. In 1990, she authored "Millie's Book," a humorous look at the adventures of the family's English springer spaniel in the White House.

 

In one of their last public appearances, the Bushes attended the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston with George performing the ceremonial pre-game coin flip. Only a few days before the couple had been released from a hospital where George had been treated for pneumonia and Barbara for bronchitis.

 

(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler, Peter Cooney and Diane Craft)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-18

[samran]

RIP, Mrs Bush. 

[colinneil]

R.I.P .Mrs Bush yes a first lady, first class lady.

[geriatrickid]

Wow that was fast. She had refused  additional medical care, and came home from the hospital on the weekend, 3 days ago. I expect that her husband will follow shortly. She was his mainstay and he must be heartbroken. I hope I can live as long as her.

[Scott]

An extremely likeable First Lady.   RIP.  

 

 

[jayboy]

She was a great lady from a blue blooded background yet somehow she had great appeal to Middle America.Class does count sometimes.

 

She once said,

"At the end of your life you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or a parent."

 

So she had wisdom as well as class.

[metisdead]

A disrespectful callous troll post has been removed, a reply was removed as well. 

[colinneil]

Just now, metisdead said:

A disrespectful, callous troll post has been removed, a reply was removed as well. 

Thank you metisdead, it was the most disgusting post i have ever seen on here.

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Thank you metisdead, it was the most disgusting post i have ever seen on here.

I missed it but if that's true it must have been a doozy!

Most everyone respected Barbara Bush, even people like me that never supported her political offspring (although the elder President Bush at least had dignity and intelligence). 

Edited April 18, 2018 by Jingthing

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

I missed it but if that's true it must have been a doozy!

Most everyone respected Barbara Bush, even people like me that never supported her political offspring. 

Well JT i didnt miss it, i told the poster to wash his mouth out because it was disgusting.

Barbara Bush was a very well liked/ caring person, loved by millions, and that is coming from me an Englishman.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, colinneil said:

Well JT i didnt miss it, i told the poster to wash his mouth out because it was disgusting.

Barbara Bush was a very well liked/ caring person, loved by millions, and that is coming from me an Englishman.

I agree. She was. I can't imagine why people would want to trash her before or after her death. 

[Jools]

I have nothing good to say about any Bush family member or their enablers. George Herbert Walker Bush was a war criminal. His wife was the enabler of a war criminal. The whole family has been involved in criminal activities since before the second world war.

[sanemax]

^ Not a good idea to repost deleted posts 

[metisdead]

Some more disrespectful callous troll posts have been removed, the replies were removed as well. 

[sanemax]

24 minutes ago, Jools said:

I have nothing good to say about any Bush family member or their enablers. ..................

So, it would be better to say nothing at all .

[Somtamnication]

Classy lady, if there ever was one. RIP

[Kieran00001]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

She was a great lady from a blue blooded background yet somehow she had great appeal to Middle America.Class does count sometimes.

 

She once said,

"At the end of your life you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or a parent."

 

So she had wisdom as well as class.

 

I have just looked up her ancestry and I couldn't find a toff in there, what are you on about?

[colinneil]

1 hour ago, Jools said:

I have nothing good to say about any Bush family member or their enablers. George Herbert Walker Bush was a war criminal. His wife was the enabler of a war criminal. The whole family has been involved in criminal activities since before the second world war.

the Bush males have a lot to answer for, but this thread is about Barbara Bush, not her husband or sons.

Please show a lit respect for a well loved lady.

[sanemax]

28 minutes ago, DipStick said:

Up to date media reports are suggesting her death is fake news released by an agency pretending to be CNN.

 

Which "up to date media reports" are those ?

[jayboy]

27 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

I have just looked up her ancestry and I couldn't find a toff in there, what are you on about?

 

 

From the LA times today :

 

"While she was unpretentious, plainspoken and down-to-earth, Bush was also a Northeastern blueblood who was strong-willed, politically shrewd, always blunt and occasionally caustic."

 

[DipStick]

35 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Which "up to date media reports" are those ?

The UK Daily Mail was the one I read, about four hours ago, hence my terminology “up to date”

[Kieran00001]

18 minutes ago, jayboy said:

 

 

From the LA times today :

 

"While she was unpretentious, plainspoken and down-to-earth, Bush was also a Northeastern blueblood who was strong-willed, politically shrewd, always blunt and occasionally caustic."

 

 

I guess they use the term quite differently to us, for the UK it means coming from nobility, but of course in the US any arriving nobility are forced to abandon any peerages they arrive with, it is illegal for someone to use a hereditary title if born in the US.  The, we also have the gentry, those who had land but were below the noble class, but we would never refer to every decedent of the landed gentry as having blueblooded, it would be ridiculous, almost every single person would have a claim.  I think the American term could be something to do with having a long family history in America and one including rich and powerful ancestors, as she did have.

[kamahele]

1 hour ago, Jools said:

I have nothing good to say about any Bush family member or their enablers. George Herbert Walker Bush was a war criminal. His wife was the enabler of a war criminal. The whole family has been involved in criminal activities since before the second world war.

While I'm not a fan of Bush politics, Barbara Bush was a wife and mother who fiercely protected her family which is what one does when one loves their family. She was much admired by Americans of all political persuasions. Her husband George was a war hero, shot down by the Japanese as a young man during WWII.  She along with her husband also have raised a billion dollars for charitable causes since he left office and retired from politics. I certainly send my sympathies to her family 

[sanemax]

12 minutes ago, DipStick said:

The UK Daily Mail was the one I read, about four hours ago, hence my terminology “up to date”

I do think that it was a case of Mrs Bush refusing anymore medical treatment and thus dying and her death may have been reported prematurely or before any official announcement  

[sanemax]

4 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Never trust the Daily Mail, they are banned from Wikipedia for a reason, and that reason is producing consistently fake news.  Anyway, that was what they claimed yesterday, if you read their paper today they state that she has died. 

 

The DM isnt "banned from Wikipedia" , they published a few incorrect things (as all media outlets do) and the lefties campaigned to get every article written by the DM on Wiki to state as much .

[Jools]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

So, it would be better to say nothing at all .

No it WOULDN'T....criminals and their enablers should be called out at every opportunity and "fora" (or sites masquerading as such) should bravely support free speech, not the muffled, stifled BBC/Fox News version of reality.

[metisdead]

And Google has plenty of reports of Barbara Bush has died:

 

https://news.google.com/news/story/d4M_II7JCFzKNnMHCrAcFbOoFUqwM?ned=us&hl=en&gl=US

 

 

Fake news posts will now be removed. 

 

The Daily Mail is blocked in Thailand on some providers:

 

 

 

 

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, Jools said:

No it WOULDN'T....criminals and their enablers should be called out at every opportunity and "fora" (or sites masquerading as such) should bravely support free speech, not the muffled, stifled BBC/Fox News version of reality.

When there has been a death , its polite to just bow your head and keep quiet, rather than using it as an opportunity to have a rant .

   

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, Jools said:

No it WOULDN'T....criminals and their enablers should be called out at every opportunity and "fora" (or sites masquerading as such) should bravely support free speech, not the muffled, stifled BBC/Fox News version of reality.

I also think that it shouldn't be taboo to diss freshly dead people if they really deserve it. I don't think Barbara Bush does. Not saying she was any kind of saint, but she earned the respect of the vast majority of Americans, including political opponents to the various Bush politicians. 

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

I also think that it shouldn't be taboo to diss freshly dead people if they really deserve it. I don't think Barbara Bush does. Not saying she was any kind of saint, but she earned the respect of the vast majority of Americans, including political opponents to the various Bush politicians. 

I do think that there should be , say three days of showing no disrespect or being abusive to the deceased .

   Its horrendous when some people celebrate another persons death .