Buttermilk & Molasses

WHILE WE SLEPT

David Rees brings his wry perpsective to Central Asia, which will be the new Middle East soon enough. Or the old Central Asia. The U.S. made an amazing series of trade-offs in 2001 to gain a stepping-off point for U.S. forces headed for Afghanistan. Millions of tons of supplies headed into the region on the rusted rails of the old Soviet rail lines into several of the -stans, and airfields throughout the region hummed loudly as American warplanes took the air from their rental bases. The recent glad-handing tour by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is an indication that the Bush administration trully is willing to deal with the Devil (or several of them) for a song and a dance.

DID SOMEONE SAY 'OPEC'?

Oh, poor Scott McClellan. Not only is he unable to lie with a smile like Ari, but he's facing the crowd just as the ship of state is taking on water. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum provides us with a clean edit of questions from Wednesday's White House press briefing. Breeze through it. You'll never want to be Press Secretary again.

CONDI RICE, COME ON DOWN!

It's going to be the largest U.S. embassy in the world with more than 3,000 staff. The Baghdad posting will be sought after by folks interested in that hardship posting bonus, but whose going to run the show? The White House has been floating names, but the Bush team has few candidates under the age of 70. Ambassador Condoleeza Rice has a nice ring to it...

FLOWER BOXING

To think I almost yanked the windowboxes out when I bought the house. All it took to add a little springtime kick to the chateau were clusters of Vinca Vine, rose and white Dahlias and some yellow Coreopsis.

The front beds inhaled more than 100 summer bulbs this past Sunday, including Shasta and Fiesta Daisies, Purple Coneflowers, orange Dahlias, blue Irises, mixed Freesia, and a host of anemones, Ranunculus, Liatrus Spicata and the like. The wildflower seeds are scattered. I spent the better part of the week -- well, about one minute each morning -- looking to see if the squirrels had been bulb bobbing in the mulch.

A new bed is halfway done. The rosebud and red maple are in the ground, where they will undoubtedly die. I need a stand for the birdbath. And some birds.

FLOWER BOXING

To think I almost yanked the windowboxes out when I bought the house. All it took to add a little springtime kick to the chateau were clusters of Vinca Vine, rose and white Dahlias and some yellow Coreopsis.

The front beds inhaled more than 100 summer bulbs this past Sunday, including Shasta and Fiesta Daisies, Purple Coneflowers, orange Dahlias, blue Irises, mixed Freesia, and a host of anemones, Ranunculus, Liatrus Spicata and the like. The wildflower seeds are scattered. I spent the better part of the week -- well, about one minute each morning -- looking to see if the squirrels had been bulb bobbing in the mulch.

A new bed is halfway done. The rosebud and red maple are in the ground, where they will undoubtedly die. I need a stand for the birdbath. And some birds.

LOSING IRAQ

TNR's Spencer Ackerman sees the brutal killing of four contractors in Fallujah yesterday for what it is -- a signal that the U.S. policymakers really don't understand what they've done. Here's Ackerman:

For a year now, the Pentagon has blithely dismissed the violence in the Sunni Triangle as being the work of regime "dead-enders" who "just don't get it." The truth is that we don't get it. We have yet to find any meaningful way of giving Fallujah a stake in the new Iraq. And with the CPA website ticking off the days until it dissolves like a prisoner awaiting his release, our political influence is diminishing rapidly.

The resistence in the Sunni Triangle has been allowed to fester for a year, and the Bush administration is actively rolling up tents, pulling up as many stakes as it can pull, and counting the days to pass these problems over to an Iraqi government.

But there is no government. And when a government is formed, the U.S. will have even less control over the fate of the 100,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground in Iraq, because the policy decisions that directly impact the soldiers will be out of the hands of the U.S. government.

THE BOPST SHOW

Ah, DJ Chris Bopst, what truth you speak. This week, Bopst ponders some recent interactions from live remotes his radio show has been doing around town.

Since I have been on the station, I have never felt whiter in my life. It is good for white people to be the lone Caucasian in a room, which sadly doesn't happen enough as far as I am concerned. Often, I am in the position of being the lone white dude in a group of people and you know what, its not nearly as horrifying as some of you racists might think. Truth be told, I hardly notice it anymore. I'm just another human being in the room. This city doesn't have enough intermingling of cultures and frankly, I believe that's why this former capital of the confederacy is, excuse my French here, so fucked up. Just from looking at some of the reactions Jay got, some of you people need to get out more often.

This ridiculous segregation is painfully evident on our airwaves as well. No station in Richmond other than WCLM has black and& white DJ's. What's with that? Are we to believe that only specific tunes appeal to specific races of people? Are we wrong to assume that good music has universial appeal? If you listen to Richmond, they believe, judging by their "race exclusive" broadcasts, that this is in fact so.

The best thing about these live remotes for me was to be broadcasting in front of a live audience as opposed to being left to my own devices in the studio. People came up and requested songs and, by golly, they were played regardless of genre. "Will you play Muddy Waters?" an African American gentleman in his, and I'm guessing here, early 50s asked me. "Sure, which tune do you want to hear?" I replied looking for it in my collection without thinking. "You would play it for me?" he responded seemingly mystified at how easy it would be to get his request played, "You don't have to clear it with anyone first?" I looked up at him and said, "Of course not. I'll play whatever you want me to play. I play everything and anything on my show as long as it's good. This isn't corporate radio." "Well, then play 'Hootchie-Coochie Man' for me. I love that tune" Thankfully, I had packed away some Muddy Waters before I left the house that day and I cued up the tune to follow Public Enemy's "Don't Believe The Hype." When the Muddy Waters came over the speakers, I looked over at the gentlemen and gave him the thumps up. He responded by putting his fist in the air and started singing along.

In my book, radio doesn't get any better than that.

VOICES CARRY

Alistair Cooke died this week just one month after his last "Letter from America." Cooke was a constant voice for British radio listeners for more than 50 years. The BBC offers up some of his "Greatest Hits."

CAIRO IN 3D

I've been using this handy 3D map of Cairo while scribbling notes in my Cairo photolog. We stayed with friends in 2B during our 1999 trip.

LEFT OF THE DIAL

I'll reserve commentary on the new progressive all-talk radio network, Air America. It launched yesterday with its fair share of glitches and dull moments, but it has a promising line-up -- Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Chuck D. You can't listen in your car, but you can listen at work.