Say what? Kumquat

This is take from a paper in south Florida, and made me laugh this morning:

Column: Orange You Glad State Picked Fruit?
TOM JACKSON

In yet another move designed to offend the lowest number of Floridians, this spring the Legislature approved and, Friday, Gov. Jeb Bush signed, a bill proclaiming the state's official fruit. To the astonishment of absolutely no one, the ubiquitous orange claimed the honor and all the rights and privileges that thereunto appertain.
The orange thus joined other examples of Sunshine State conspicuity - the mockingbird, the manatee, the alligator, the horse conch, the largemouth bass, the zebra longwing butterfly and its very own self in fetal form (the orange blossom) - in the rarefied ranks set aside for official symbolizing.
(Want to get into a spat with some botanist? Mention that the state tree is the Sabal palm. Except that a palm is not, strictly speaking, a tree. It is, instead, a family unto itself, more closely related to grass than pines and oaks.)
Anyway, King Orange rules again, adding to its haul of honors that includes a county, a top-tier college football game, a stadium and a New Year's Eve parade.
Never mind that the official state fruit, while useful in the formation of knock-knock jokes (``Orange you going to open the door?''), absolutely defies rhyming. Welcome to a jingle-writer's nightmare.
Pockets Full O' Flavor
Meanwhile, unlamented and once more ignored, is the locally lovable little kumquat, abundantly grown in northeast Pasco County and favored throughout Indochina, to which it is native.
Indeed, the name ``kumquat'' derives from the Cantonese for ``golden orange.'' Which is orange, only better.
Unlike the orange, which arrives sheathed in a stubborn, unpalatable peel requiring inconvenient disposal, the kumquat is utterly edible, ``extremely juicy and tasty and usually [with] a sweet outer skin accompanied by a tart, inner flesh,'' say the experts at essortment.com. In short, eating the entire fruit, which is small enough to pop in your mouth, is the point.
And unlike oranges, you can walk around with your pockets full of kumquats; this is especially helpful for those waging war against unsightly belly fat who are susceptible to unhealthy snacking.
Beyond convenience and portability, consider also the kumquat's eminent rhyme-ability, which is wholly superior to the awkward orange. Why, this poetry-friendly, bite-size alternative to the unyielding orange fairly invites the typing of happy couplets.
Kumquat - say what? I say kumquat. Hits the spot. Yes, kumquat - in a pot, just a dot, you're gonna love 'em cold or hot. Yes, kumquat, ready or not.
New Category Needed
OK, maybe the orange is the 800-pound gorilla - make that orangutan - in the room. And it's hard to begrudge the fruit on the license plate its place among state symbols. After all, tangerines, grapefruit, tangelos and mangoes didn't get a sniff of the certification action, either.
But here in the county of the kumquat capital of the free world, where growers urge consumers to consider kumquat kabobs, kumquat chutney, kumquat merengue pie, kumquat stew and kumquat quiche, love of the fruit world's best-kept secret endures.
A change in profile is in order. Perhaps in time for next year's midwinter Kumquat Festival in Dade City, a legislative delegation can be recruited to consider naming the official state fruit that fits in your pocket.
Say what? Kumquat.
Columnist Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

Black Folks And Everyday Low Prices

From American Black, another blog, it has several good links ....

Black Folks And Everyday Low Prices

A lot of folks have problems with Wal-Mart. Local retailers. Unions. The list goes on. But Wal-Mart has come up with a plan which is working. New stores are going up in poorer neighborhoods.

The pitch goes like this: Wal-mart is good for poor people of color because they get jobs and also get to buy cheap goods.

Of course executives don't mention the jobs come with notoriously low wages and that the company has cracked down on union organizing. But Black cheap labor conservatives don't care.

Wal-Mart executives know that poor people of color are in no position to be picky about who brings what jobs to the community. Wal-Mart is the leading employer of Black and Latino workers.

But just how bad is Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart has a health plan. But because few workers can afford it on the wages Wal-Mart pays, the company instead encourages its workers to apply for public assistance. So many of Wal-Mart employees are on welfare that some states want to tax them to offset some of their costs.

Pitching proposals to poor communities who are desperate for jobs, private developers are able to exploit the failure of public policy to create jobs in these communities. New York City Coucilman Charles Barron had this to say in a recent Alternet article.

"There are plenty of other ways to create jobs," says Councilman Barron, who argues for increased investment in public infrastructure such as hospitals and schools to revitalize poor areas like his Brooklyn district. "Private developers," he continues, "manipulate the race question for their financial gain."

Like everyone else, I wanna save a few a few dollars. I shop at Wal-Mart. And I'm all for poor communities getting much needed jobs. But we need to distinguish between economic development and economic exploitation. And Wal-Mart smells a bit like explotation to me.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

The Leon County Young Democrats are proud to announce our 1st annual (and hopefully only) Filibuster Film Festival next Tuesday, May 24, 2005, at Paradigm downtown. We will be showing Mr Smith Goes to Washington starring Jimmy Stewart at 7:30 pm. The classic 1939 Frank Capra film tells the story of how a naive, good-hearted Senator stands up to powerful, corrupt interests by using the filibuster. Arriving between 6:30 and 7 should ensure you'll get a good seat. The film festival is open to the public, and it's FREE! Snacks will be provided and there will be a cash bar.

We are holding this event to make a statement about the filibuster debate currently being held in the US Senate. Over 200 years of precedent are being threatened with this latest attempt by the GOP to eliminate the last check on their power. The threat of the "nuclear option" is fundamentally un-American, and it's up to all Americans to stop it. We will have a "Save the Filibuster!" petition in support of preserving the filibuster as a means of protecting the rights of the minority. After all in attendance have signed it, we will then forward it along to our Senators in Congress. They can then see in black and white where Leon County citizens stand on the issue.

If Bill Frist and his reactionary supporters are successful in changing the rules to suit them by eliminating the filibuster of lifetime judicial nominees, what's to stop them there? The argument that every judicial nominee deserves an "up or down vote" could easily be then extended to legislation, thus killing the filibuster altogether. The minority would then have no voice in our government.

Jefferson Smith's triumph over corruption will have been in vain.

So come down to Paradigm next Tuesday night to stand up for the filibuster and Mr. Smith!

Seven GOP Senators hold key to Filibuster Fight

The following 7 Senators hold the key to whether or not Senator Frist will get approval from the Senate to get rid of a practice that has been respected under Senate Rules for years as a tool used to help the Minority and protect it from the Majority: The Filibuster.

Currently, the Vote count is this:

48 No.... All 44 Democrats, 1 Independent and 3 Republicans (McCain, Chafee, and Snowe).

45 Yes... All Republicans.

That leaves these 7 non-committed Republican Senators as the deciding factor:

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
John Sununu of New Hampshire
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
John Warner of Virginia
Susan Collins of Maine
Mike DeWine of Ohio

We will need 3 out of the 7 to win. Bill First needs at least 5 of these to force a tie and let Vice President Cheney decide through his deciding vote.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Read the article linked above by CNN. I could make a prediction but really, it could go either way.

Virginity or Death!

Read it.