Even She's Too Smart to be Seen with Him

Jessica Simpson rejected an offer to fundraise for W and his minions.

Concerned about politicizing her favorite charity, singer-actress Jessica Simpson on Wednesday turned down a invitation to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, a snub that left Republicans dismayed.

The apparent final word that Simpson would be a no-show at a major Republican fund-raiser with Bush and congressional leaders on Thursday night came after a day of conflicting reports from her camp and organizers of the event.

Also, the headline is pretty sweet.

Yet More Proof

that Republicans and people who vote for Republicans have forsaken our country's future:

Senate Republicans on Tuesday narrowly defeated an effort to impose budget rules that would make it harder to increase spending or cut taxes, a move that critics said that showed Republicans were posturing in their calls for greater fiscal restraint. In the first of several politically charged budget and spending issues confronting Congress this week, the Senate rejected on a 50-to-50 tie a proposal to restore what are known as "pay-go" rules, a requirement that tax cuts and some new spending be approved by 60 votes or offset by budget savings or revenue increases.

The Nice Folks at Metroblogging Atlanta

beat me to a NY Times article, about Atlanta's gentrification. The author smartly avoids the race-baiting of many opposed to the process, noting that it (like probably 80% of issues couched as race-issues these days) is more of a class struggle. To wit: "Already, the change has had unpredictable effects. Kwanza Hall is a young black politician from the rapidly gentrifying Old Fourth Ward, a neighborhood that is part of a mostly white City Council district that includes affluent areas like Inman Park. But in the last election, Mr. Hall, who ran his campaign from a year-old coffee shop next to a soon-to-open men's spa, defeated two whites for an open seat."

Now, This is What I Need....

This New York Times article documents a growing trend in the United States: recent South Asian immigrants ordering lunch delivered from home kitchens.

In Mumbai, formerly Bombay, the tiffin, or lunch, is prepared by the wife, mother or servant of the intended. In the United States, because of little time (and a lack of a domestic staff), many of these lunches are prepared by outsiders, but the underlying principle is the same.

With the spread of these services, Punjabis can have their saag paneer and meat curries; Gujaratis can have their dal, bhat (rice), shak (vegetables) and rotis (flatbreads); and south Indians their rasam (tomato-based curry). And as demand for home-cooked food on the job has increased, so has the number of outlets providing tiffins.

I have not done it myself, but I can honestly say that this would be a pretty cool thing to have here in Atlanta. Alas, Atlanta's Indian population is probably a bit too thinly spread to make it worth somebody's while, except in a few areas. But I can dream, can't I?

Update: The fiance indicates that Bhojanic in Decatur does this.

I Don't Often Link to Comments

on other blogs, but this short one from the Volokh Conspiracy is worth it. Click the link for context, but here it is:

It boggles the mind to think that someone could spend three years in a decent law school and escape from it thinking that you can distinguish between "what the law is" and what it "should be."