Wonkette

So the jury is still out on what “The Australian Black Pearl” involves. But here are some additional observations about the official White House dinner in honor of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. MORE »

Slow afternoon around here. Going through our inbox, we came across an email forwarding us the menu from last night’s official dinner in honor of Australian prime minister John Howard.

Nothing earth-shattering, and much of it was mentioned in the Post. But this menu item jumped out at us:

Wow — sounds HOTT. What exactly is “The Australian Black Pearl”? Where does it get its name from, and why the scare-quotes? How does it taste? Is there a necklace involved?

The Post write-up is unhelpful — something to do with nougat ice cream — and our half-assed Google research didn’t reveal much either. If you can enlighten us, please drop us a line.

For those of you with culinary curiosity, the full dinner menu appears after the jump.

Bush and Howard: Best Mates [WP]

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• Democrats are now more trusted than Republicans to handle every key issue, according to new WP-ABC News poll; 69% believe the nation is “off track” and 56% want Democrats to win control of Congress yet 52% say Democrats “have not offered a sharp contrast to Bush and the Republicans.” [WP]
• House Republicans hold back the Senate’s advancement of immigration proposals. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio): “I understand what the president’s position is. I have made it pretty clear that I have supported the House position.” Cheney, meanwhile, reassures Rush Limbaugh: “[W]here appropriate, fences or security barriers make good sense.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• White House pledges to brief more lawmakers about anti-terrorism efforts. [WP]
• Verizon denies that it provided phone logs to the NSA. [NYT, USAT]

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• Reliable Source: Camille Paglia on Condoleezza Rice: “She has advanced the persona of the first woman president way beyond any other woman in my lifetime.”… Kenny Chesney will perform at White House dinner for Australian Prime Minister John Howard… D.C.’s Sara Albert, of “America’s Next Top Model,” is leaving her think tank job to pursue modeling. [WP]

• Inside the Beltway: Tucker Carlson is looking at homes in Old Town Alexandria. [WT]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Pataki knows his ethanol… Lewis Black: “For those of you who are Democrats and those of you who are Republicans, in 2008, please, don’t do anything!… If you’re for Hillary, stuff it! No! Not eight more years with them.” [NYDN]

Ok, why didn’t any of you tell us about this? Don’t read Australian papers? That’s no excuse — Maureen Dowd is soliciting personal ads; this is the sort of thing we need to be kept abreast of, people. MORE »