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The definition of the word mull.
Mullings by Rich Galen�
A Political Cyber-Column By Rich Galen
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Friday Foolishness

Rich Galen

Friday April 22, 2005


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  • The Wall Street Journal is not a place one generally goes looking for amusing news stories. Well, maybe on the editorial page, but not in the rest of the paper.

  • Nevertheless, on Thursday this was a FRONT PAGE story in the WSJ: "The Hotel Industry Begins to Wake Up to a Bedbug Problem."

  • Wait! Read on. A piece by Avery Johnson led - more-or-less - as follows:
    At the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant trade show in New York, John Schulz, Marriott International's director of quality control, spoke at a symposium called "Stop the Spread of Bedbugs."

    The pamphlet advertising the event promised a discussion of "the reasons behind the resurgence of these unwelcome pests."

  • We are not told whether the "Stop the Spread of Bedbugs" was standing room only, but we are told that "Marriott said it doesn't have a bedbug problem." My suspicion is neither does John Schulz any longer have a job.

  • There's a Tom DeLay joke in here somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

  • Also this week the US Department of Agriculture announced yet another food pyramid. The first pyramid I remember suggested large servings of eggs, meats, whole milk and, I think, Milk Duds. Maybe it was Goo Goo Clusters.

  • Then the USDA decided that eggs and meat were killing people because it clogged their cardiac arteries, so they decided we should all switch from large amounts of deadly fats to large amounts of healthy carbohydrates.

  • Then they realized that two out of every three of us had supersized ourselves and so now they have developed a series of personal pyramids which will make us each responsible for our own girth - no longer able to place the blame on the government.

  • You will lose about 5 lbs. just trying to follow the USDA's links to figure all this out. But, having failed to keep my heart healthy when I was young, I clicked on the "Stay Young at Heart" recipes.

  • Here are the three suggestions for heart-healthy appetizers. I am not making this up:
  • Curtido Cabbage Salvadore;
  • Oven-Fried Yucca; and,
  • Pupusas Revueltas with Chicken
  • Just for fun, I looked up the recipe for Curtido Cabbage Salvadore. Here it is:
    Blanch the cabbage with boiling water for 1 minute. Discard the water.

    Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add grated carrots, sliced onion, red pepper, oregano, olive oil, salt, brown sugar, vinegar, and water.

    Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

    Serve with Pupusas Revueltas.

  • Ummmmm.

  • How many days have I awakened to the sounds of birds chirping on my windowsill saying to myself, "What I want - what I really, really have a taste for today - is a little boiled cabbage."

  • This tasty dish - whatever it is - carries the following nutritional information:
    Calories: 41
    Total fat: 1 g
    Saturated fat: Less than 1 g
    Cholesterol: 0 mg
    Sodium: 293 mg

  • That sodium number represents about 12 percent of the recommended daily intake of 2,400 milligrams, so you will have plenty of leeway when you dive into the pork rinds about an hour before you leave the office.

  • By the way, "Curtido Cabbage Salvadore" freely translates to "tanned cabbage from El Savadore."

  • Yum. Eee.

  • The final instruction in the recipe for the "Pupusas Revueltas with Chicken" says you should, "Serve hot with curtido salvadore�o."

  • Your government pesos at work.

  • Last thing: I was driving home last night following a gathering of the kids I served with in the Green Room in Baghdad who have named themselves the "Iraq Paq." An ad on the radio for a BMW Boxter assured me I could drive one home for "just forty-two-five."

  • Ok. The only way the word "just" can precede the number 42,500 is if it is followed by the phrase "to purchase the Plaza Hotel."

  • I have to go now. I think my curtido salvadore�o is boiling over.

  • On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Links to the recipes of the tasty breakfast suggestions described above; an amusing Mullfoto from Columbus, Ohio (which, like the Wall Street Journal is not a place one normally goes looking for humor) and the requisite Catchy Caption of the Day.

    --END --
    Copyright © 2005 Richard A. Galen

                                                                       

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