20070408 Soundtrack Snapshots

Soundtrack Snapshots

April 8^th, 2007

All about old big fish, dandelions and speeding cows

I hope everyone had a nice Easter holiday weekend…

Looking at the week preceding Easter, the Washington Post carried a Reuters brief Politics Summary.

They are only but a paragraph in length and can be found here: “Reuters Politics Summary.”

Topics included:

Bush prays for safety of U.S. troops on Easter

Stem cell vote set for Congress this week

U.S. Gov. Richardson arrives in North Korea: KCNA

Top U.S. diplomat visits Somalia to urge truce

McCain says he misspoke in upbeat Baghdad comments

Iraq war protester marches to Bush's ranch

Cheney accuses Pelosi of "bad behavior" in Syria

No sign of compromise on Iraq by Bush, Democrats

Hanoi police manhandled dissidents' wives: U.S.

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In other news, Don Surber helps us understand: “How they knew the fish was 90.” April 8th, 2007 by donsurber:

Dan Joling of the AP reported that fishermen caught a 90-year-old fish in the waters off Alaska:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A commercial fishing boat has pulled up what could have been one of the oldest creatures in Alaska — a giant rockfish estimated to be about a century old.

The 44-inch, 60-pound female shortraker rockfish was caught last month by the catcher-processor Kodiak Enterprise, owned by Trident Seafoods, south of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.

Read the rest here: “How they knew the fish was 90.”

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In one of my favorites, Doug Oster of TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES explained March 28, 2007 how the lowly dandelion is really a very much-maligned plant.

“Lawn foe a surprisingly good green.”

Yes, count me in as someone who also likes dandelions…

Dandelions are incredible. There, I've said it. I'm proud that they are part of my garden and my diet.

Thousands, maybe millions of dollars are spent each year in an effort to eradicate this so-called weed, but dandelions actually are among the world's great plants in terms of nutrition. They are an excellent source of antioxidants and beta carotene.

They also are high in potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium and are loaded with vitamins A, C and E. Want to know another secret? They taste good.

When I tell people I love dandelions, the reactions are mixed. Some look at me in disbelief, given my reputation as a devoted gardener…

Read the rest here: “Lawn foe a surprisingly good green.”

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The smack down of the week was the Washington Post’s editorial last Thursday on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s excellent adventure: “Pratfall in Damascus: Nancy Pelosi's foolish shuttle diplomacy.”

Thursday, April 5, 2007; A16

HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered an excellent demonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attempt to supplant the secretary of state when traveling abroad.

[…]

"We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace," Ms. Pelosi grandly declared.

Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish. (My emphasis)

I could not agree more.

Commentary about such matters has become so predictable that it has been rendered uninformative. The lefty bloggers and the main stream media will defend democrats no matter what they do and the righty wing-nuts will criticize Democrats no matter what they do. It has become one big yawn. But when a mainstream media standard-bearer such as the Washington Post weighs-in, then that becomes news in and of itself. And the Washington Post was not the only standard-bearer to criticize her ill-advised adventure.

What was she thinking?

Read the entire editorial here: “Pratfall in Damascus: Nancy Pelosi's foolish shuttle diplomacy.”

Wanna read more? Check out “An Arab-American rebukes Pelosi” posted by Thomas Lifson

Emilio Dabaul, an Arab-American with relatives in Syria, writes a superb rebuke to Nancy Pelosi on the website of the American Congress for Truth. This one is a must-read, and I take off my hat to Mr. Dabaul and ACT for a piece that is logical, clear, well-written, and full of passion. Follow the link, but here is a brief taste: …

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Don Surber calls to our attention the O’Reilly – Rivera shouting match: “So much Hot Air.”

2. Hot Air also has Bill O’Reilly vs. Geraldo Rivera. I saw the thing live and thought it was the usual over-the-top shouting match that should be reserved for Sweeps Months. But hey, readers can decide for themselves.

I missed it because I changed the channel to the “Food Network.” I find these childish food fights of kindergarten proportions to be a waste of my time. If I want to witness inane and uninformed conversations performed by folks with their eyes bulging and their veins popping – I’ll go to a local public hearing. Well, then again - maybe not. I always have my sock drawer to re-arrange… I gain little value out of such shouting matches and I thought that both Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Rivera made fools of themselves.

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Don Surber, the inventor of the “Name that party” game in which the main stream media identifies Republicans who mess-up right away in the news article but somehow always seem to either, not identify of bury the identification of wrongdoing Democrats; seems to have invented yet another media game:

Name That Party 2.0

There have been complaints that “Name That Party” is too easy. In this game, I post a newspaper story about a political scandal. Readers then guess which party the crook belongs to simply based on which paragraph the reporter discloses the crook’s party.

It did get too easy. Republicans were identified as Republicans within the first 3 paragraphs. Democrats, well, sometimes they were not called Democrats even after 63 paragraphs. Ain’t that right, Matthew Dolan of the Baltimore Sun?

So I am rolling out a new game: Pet or Pork?

Read the entire post here: Name That Party 2.0

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Don Surber comments on the favorite game of liberals, class warfare:

NYT: Women, minorities hardest hit by global warming

April 1st, 2007 by donsurber

The joke for years was if the world ended, the New York Times’ headline would read: “Women, minorities hardest hit.”

The joke came true today in this actual NYT headline:

Poor Nations to Bear Brunt as World Warms

The photograph with it showed: “A woman harvesting corn in Malawi, an African country that is already prone to drought and faces grim prospects under global warming.”

Women? Check. Minorities? Check. Let’s roll. The story began:

Read the rest of the post here: “NYT: Women, minorities hardest hit by global warming”

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Last but not least, Mark Tapscott of “Tapscott’s Copy Desk” continues to keep us informed on pork and earmarks: “Kudos to OMB for Updated Online Earmarks Database.”

If you have not been following Mr. Tapscott’s coverage of the wasteful, bankrupting and incomprehensible spending of Congress, click on Mr. Tapscott’s labels for: Porkbusters and Earmarks

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Quote of the week:

“Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120 ft/sec, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter.” Dave Barry

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