Coming to America

During the Bush years many foreigners coming to the U.S. who used all the legal channels encountered difficulties. There are signs of a thaw, however. Some in government have begun to realize that we need foreign workers--at least when it comes to harvesting crabs.

There's been a shortage of nurses in this country for years and yet....

Seven Months In....

Everybody in medialand has decided to take the August recess as an occasion to reflect on how Obama's doing six months into his first term--even though by my count it's closer to seven months, but what do I know?

Obama came into office with a clear mandate: he was the first president since Lyndon Johnson whose party won both the popular vote and control of both Houses of Congress, so you could argue that progressives were entitled to expect sweeping change. Thus their disappointment when Obama assembled economic team that included men who laid the groundwork for the current financial crisis: people behind the deregulation of credit-default swaps, former executives at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

But honestly, to fix the economic crisis you need people who know the situation inside out. And who would know more than the guys who created it?

The administration is even taking heat over the initiative that arguably has done the most good: the stimulus. In good old Keynesian fashion, the government has been priming the economic pump with an injection of money. Take Cash for Clunkers: some whiners are saying that the fuel efficiency requirements for the cars former clunker owners get to buy are so lame that this will do little to combat global warming. Honestly, there's no pleasing some people. Obama will probably get flack on the clean energy provisions in the stimulus: $2.4 billion for battery and electric car projects. So what if 98% of clean energy research proposals are rejected by the administration?

Obama has also been taken to task for the dismissal of gay military personnel--a policy he vowed to change. They're fond of pointing out that a gay officer fluent in Arabic was dismissed from the military and decry this as an appalling waste of skill. Come on, people, it's very unusual for Americans to know foreign languages. This begs the question, how did he know Arabic? This guy has al-Qaeda sleeper agent written all over him.

And then there's the health care reform bill. People are up in arms that Obama has negotiated some shady backroom deals with Big Pharma, and that the bill doesn't provide single-payer health care, which a majority of Americans want.

Will you give the guy a break? It's understandable if he's sometimes out of touch with what Americans want. After all, he is Kenyan.

The Cheddar Has Landed

I'm a bit late with this, so pardon me, but the space-bound wedge of cheddar has been recovered. It landed in a Buckinghamshire garden. Somewhat bemused to find a piece of cheddar attached to a weather balloon and a GPS device, the owner of the garden took it to local police.

The Week in Food

Where no cheddar has gone before: some English cheesemakers are waiting to find out if 300 grams of their finest actually made it into space.

A word of advice for the violent: if you're going to attack people in a restaurant, you might want to pick one where the employees aren't used to wielding steel skewers.

It seems the mania for combining bacon with everything imaginable isn't over yet.

We're learning more and more about the environmental costs of raising animals for meat. And it's a weak retail market. So what's an aspiring businessman to do? Start selling business cards made of beef, of course.

America's Finest at Work

It's been almost eight years since a major terrorist attack on American soil, so it would be understandable if those in law enforcement and security were starting to get complacent. Not so. The men and women of TSA are as vigilant as ever, and they're willing to go the extra mile, whether it's confiscating the toys of a grieving eight-year old, taking a woman's jewelry, or detaining and interrogating a man who's doing something totally out of line like carrying money.

And you'll be happy to know the men and women in local government are following their example: the fire department in Columbus, Ohio stepped up to protect the staff of JP Morgan Chase from a timer, and two cops in DeKalb County, Georgia took the initiative to do a background check on, well, guess who?

You can't be too careful.

File Under, "Not Much Better"

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said last week that we needed the F-22 fighter*to help deal with the security threat from India. You might be aware that India is officially an ally of the United States. I certainly hope Cornyn is, since he's a co-chair of the Senate India Caucus.

Well, sly pol that he is, Cornyn had his spokesman clear things up today in an interview with the Times of India:

"Senator Cornyn misspoke, saying 'India' when he meant to say 'China.'"

China. That big country we began a summit with today.

That country that keeps lending us money.

Suddenly Joe Biden seems quite the smooth talker.

*Remember? The planes that cost $350 million each and that you can't fly when it's raining?

The Week in Food

Administrators at a kindergarten in Southampton, England have decided that when it comes to fighting truancy, they'll drop the stick in favor of the carrot--or rather, the curry.

Thanks to the Claim Jumper restaurant chain of California, finding a fly in your soup doesn't seem like that big a deal anymore.

We've got warning labels on blow dryers, irons, household cleaners, and children's toys. Guess what's next?

You thought the days of German invasions were over: but don't worry, this time instead of sending in Panzers, they're sending in supermarkets.

At some high-end confectioner's, milk chocolate will soon take on a slightly different meaning.

A new hunting season opens in Florida which begs the question, is Burmese python red meat or white meat?