Over the weekend in Australia, incumbent Prime Minister John Howard, known for hugging and kissing George W. Bush like all the time, lost his power to the Labor party’s debonair Kevin Rudd. Howard is in his eleventh year as prime minister, and his tenure has seen consistent growth, full employment and low long-term interest rates. But eleven years is the new zillion years, so this Rudd guy can take over now. Besides, Rudd’s going to apologize formally to the Aborigines! Because only state apologies can cure widespread poverty and centuries of racial oppression. [Time]

President Bush Junior screwed up even more than normal during brief remarks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney. Foreign journalists were, as usual, horrified and amused by the bumbling and buffoonery. MORE »

Aussie PM John Howard is so determined to see every Muslim (and many thousands of Americans) killed in Iraq that he endorsed Bush over Kerry in 2004. But his love for Dubya goes beyond mere words. MORE »

Aussie prime minister John Howard isn’t falling for that Iran stuff — he knows the actual leader of the Iraqi insurgency is Barack Obama. The Australian cretin chose the day after Obama’s announcement to make the asinine comments on TV.

“If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats,” said the mouth-breathing prime minister. Yes, keep drawing circles around “March 2008″ and we’ll go ahead and have our election in November.

Join us for crayons and calendars, after the jump.

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Yesterday we asked you for information about “The Australian Black Pearl,” the cryptically named dessert that was served at the recent White House dinner in honor of Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Thank you for all your tips. We now know more than we ever cared to know about this culinary creation with the sexy-sounding name. Apparently it has nothing to do with Pirates of the Caribbean.

This was the most helpful response we received, informed by firsthand knowledge of said dessert:

I have a detailed description of the dessert this morning from an attendee to last night’s dinner. The “pearl” was a round ball of chocolate ganache covered nougat ice cream, about the size of a duck pin bowling ball. It sat in a white chocolate giant clam set among dark chocolate stag coral and small white chocolate fish. The dessert also included fresh raspberries and oranges. One was created for each table. The guest thought the desert was the highlight of a wonderful dinner.

After the jump, additional tidbits about “The Australian Black Pearl.”

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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]