I still have a blogger account?

Wow.....so this is actually still here. I'd forgotten about this, honestly. I'll have to start using it.

I for one welcome our spunky new overlord

Rachael Ray is everywhere. It’s getting to the point where I can’t pass the salty snack aisle anymore without seeing her perky gaze. Of course, her ubiquitousness has predictably sparked some bloggy backlash. I opened up my favorite rag, City Pulse, and came across this little gem:
“Lansing Woman’s anti-Rachael Ray site gains national attention”.

Now, I read through both the article, and scrolled a little through the site itself. Now, granted, I’m not exactly the world’s biggest Rachael fan (see my “30 Minute Blotto: The Rachael Ray Drinking Game” post at the old blog), but they’re slagging on her a little harder than I think she deserves. Yes, the garbage bowl is irritating.

Honestly, I think that there is a place on Food Network for a cook. For the most part, she makes stuff normal people would make. I think that if she gets people out of restaurants, cooking more at home, and feeling confident in the kitchen, it’s a good thing.

I don’t think she’s quite the menace that these fine folks are pointing out. I think that as far as corporate whoring goes, Emeril still is the head whore. How much money do you think Aquafresh paid him to tout their disgustingly flavored toothpastes? (This is the only reason I'm glad Emeril exists.) Occasionally, she does give some bad advice, which is why it’s important to get a second opinion by watching other shows, particularly Good Eats. Alton Brown does a really good job dispelling foodie myths.

But, hey, I’ve got an even better idea. Let’s say we call a truce and go after the real enemy. I think you know who I mean. Yeah, that’s right….the real King Midas in Reverse, Sandra Lee, who takes delicious food items and semi-homemakes them into crap!

Does the Prez use Lemon Pledge to polish his legacy?

According to the fine folks at the New York Daily News, George W. Bush and his supporters are attempting to gin up some donations for a super-mega-presidential library in Dallas. Better than the average prez library, the so-called "Institute for Democracy" will be for the express purpose of "legacy polishing." Main targets of the fundraising efforts are ritzy "heiresses, Arab nations, and captains of industry." (These folks are said to be able to pony up "10 to 20 million" a piece.) Other smaller donations are also expected (in thousands instead of millions). Here's a quote from one of the story's sources: "It's so much bigger than anything that's been tried before. But the more you have, the more influence [on history] you can exert." The ultimate goal is for "Bush partisans...determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans." Ahh....more wonders of the faith-based presidency. You know, I wonder...the product certainly didn't sell this fall....why do they think that it'll sell now? That is one seriously past-date product, and it won't pass the sniff test.

Early global warming?

I've been out lately, enjoying some unseasonably warm weather. It's a little freaky, really. Normally, I'd be gearing up for the outdoors like one of the characters from A Christmas Story -- like I was going deep sea diving! I didn't even have to wear gloves today. Yesterday, we were putting up our Xmas decorations in 50+ degree weather. I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. It's supposed to be a lot colder by the weekend. Some smart aleck will try to say that this is one of the supposed benefits of global warming. However, I'd say that I'd rather have snow and a nice healthy garden this summer, than warm weather at the end of November.

He's Losing It!

"You still don't get it, do you? I'm going to tell you something, and whether or not it's plausible given the world you come out of is your problem. I am not 'running' for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen." -Newt Gingrich, in Fortune

You'll need the smelling salts after this....

I often browse through the excerpts over at Salon's Daou Report, just because it's an easy way to keep tabs on what's happening in Blogistan. Tonight, I read something jaw-droppingly stupid. There's a righty blog that was pointing out that you could get John Conyers' blog in Arabic Oy vey. Take a look at this map showing Rep. Conyers' district. I think you might want to sit down before I tell you this. See Dearborn on the map? Dearborn contains the second-largest Arab-American population (second only to NYC). Not only that, but you can also get the Conyers website in Spanish. Sheesh.

Midweek Political Roundup

- I told you that Carl Levin as head of the Armed Services Committee was a good thing. According to Salon's War Room, one of the first things Levin plans to do is investigate Bush's "extraordinary rendition" program.

- The Republican members of the Senate have voted to resurrect Trent Lott as their new Minority Whip. I'm sure Senator Lott is a very nice guy (seems like it when he visits The Daily Show), but he has really embarrased himself by some of the stupid stuff he says. I'll go further: Lott is essentially the Republican John Kerry -- lovely man personally, good at the politicking and backroom deals, but always shoots self in foot publically. Though at least Kerry's not a closet racist.

- James Carville is apparently trying to depose Howard Dean as the head of the Democratic National Committee. Carville thinks that the DNC were holding back money that they should have ponied up for some minor congressional races. Carville wanted Harold Ford (yeah, that guy) to take over. I'm not a big fan of Ford myself, as I think he's a phony. (Not that Bob Corker was any less of a phony, mind you.) Carville didn't succeed, but he's complaining to the press. He referred to what he thoughts were Dean's missteps as "Rumsfeldian." Harsh! If Dean made any missteps, it was not dealing with the Republican Congressional Committee's incessant robocalls (though it took folks awhile to catch on to what was going on). I think that otherwise, he did pretty good.

Good news, bad news

The good news is that we threw a lot of bums out in the election. The bad news is that there are still plenty of bums in office. I'm counting third-time winner Mike Rogers as a half a bum, as he does have good ideas from time to time, and now that his party's no longer in power, won't be a special interest bitch.

The good news is that Don Rumsfeld stepped down/retired/got fired. The bad news is that three Michigan soldiers died this weekend, and I saw funeral announcements for at least one previous one.

The good news is that Jennifer Granholm will stay governor of our fine state. The bad news is that it looks like George Perles got elected to the Moo-U Board of Trustees. As if everything wasn't "all football all the time" on campus already...!

The good news is that Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House. The bad news is that we're either stuck with John Murtha or Steny Hoyer as Majority Leader. It's hard to choose -- Murtha's a great spokesman on Iraq, but he blows on the corruption issue. Hoyer just reeks on the Iraq issue.

The good news is that Carl Levin is now the chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee. No bad news here!