The Iraq Study Group released its recommendations today and there’s something odd about all the hoopla around the conclusion that President Bush’s policy “is not working,” as the commission says.

Was there anyone who thought it was, especially with this kind of news coming out of the country?

“A mortar attack killed at least eight people and wounded dozens in a secondhand goods market Wednesday in a shelling followed closely by a suicide bombing in the Sadr City Shiite district of the capital, police said,” Associated Press reporter Qais al-Bashir wrote from Baghdad.

“Two rounds landed and exploded in the Haraj Market in a mixed Shiite-Sunni area in northern Baghdad, said police officers Ali Mutab and Mohammed Khayoun, who provided the casualty totals.

About 25 minutes later, a suicide bomber on a bus in Sadr City detonated explosives hidden in his clothing, killing two people and wounding 15, police 1st Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.”

As expected, the commission led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat from Indiana, says the United States should talk to Iran and Syria as a way to try to curb the violence.

“Given the ability of Iran and Syria to influence events within Iraq and their interest in avoiding chaos in Iraq, the United States should try to engage them constructively,” the commission recommended.

It will interesting to see exactly how that will work. Consider all the heated rhetoric over the last years. Bush’s axis of evil. The battles over Iran’s nuclear program. More recently Bush’s comments after the assassination in Lebanon of Pierre Gemayel, the anti-Syrian leader.

“We support the Lebanese people’s desire to live in peace and we support their efforts to defend their their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence in that important country,” the president was quoted by Agence France-Press.

Last month, Prime Minister Tony Blair called for a new partnership with Syria and Iran if they stopped supporting terrorism in Iraq and if Iran gave up its nuclear ambitions, according to The Times of London. Downing Street denied Blair would be going “cap in hand” to Damscus and Tehran, the newspaper said.

You can already see the cartoons.

New York City has become the first city to ban trans fats in restaurants, a move that was opposed by the restaurant industry. Westchester County Legislator Gordon Burrows has suggested a similar prohibition here but county health officials favor voluntary measures. One thing Westchester does do is maintain a list of restaurants that don’t use trans fats. You can find it “here.”:http://www.westchestergov.com/HEALTH/TransFat/TF.htm

NYC health board votes to ban trans fats at restaurants
By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The Board of Health voted Tuesday to make New York the first city in the nation to ban artificial trans fats at restaurants — from the corner pizzeria to high-end bakeries.
The board, which passed the ban by a unanimous vote, did give restaurants a slight break by relaxing what had been considered a tight deadline for compliance. Restaurants will be barred from using most frying oils containing artificial trans fats by July 1, and will have to eliminate the artificial trans fats from all of its foods by July 1, 2008.
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said recently that officials seriously weighed complaints from the restaurant industry, which argued that it was unrealistic to give them six months to replace cooking oils and shortening and 18 months to phase out the ingredients altogether.
Trans fats are believed to be harmful because they contribute to heart disease by raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol at the same time. Some experts say that makes trans fats worse than saturated fat.
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Associated Press Writer David B. Caruso contributed to this report.

Here’s Karen DeYoung, the author of “Soldier,� a biography of Colin Powell, on why she does not think the former secretary of state will run for president.

“He hates politics although he’s a very good politician just not on the election side. He thinks it’s sort of beneath him, the idea of asking people for money, shaking hands, making those kinds of deals with people, I think he finds very repugnant.”

Plus, she said, he’s not the kind of person to take on something he is not sure he could win. The baggage he carries because of Iraq would make that very difficult, she said.

Danny Meyer owns some of the most famous restaurants in New York City.

Union Square Cafe. Gramercy Tavern. Eleven Madison Park. The Shake Shack in Madison Square Park.

So what are his favorites?

“Any one that’s not my own,� he said today at the Katonah Museum of Art’s annual literary lunch, The Inside Scoop. “I can’t stand eating at my own restaurants.�

If he did, he’d spend the meal trying to keep an eye on things, he said.

Instead, he offered these suggestions:
On the Lower East Side, Prune. New York magazine describes it as “a grab bag of eccentric, multicultural influences that is, at heart, American.�
Or Apizz, also on the Lower East Side, “a wonderful brick-oven trattoria,� according to Zagat.
Or Blue Hill, with restaurants in New York City and Pocantico Hills. Seasonal American food with produce from the Hudson Valley.

“I’m happy eating pizza and hot dogs though,� he said. “It all depends on what the mood is.�

Meyer was on a panel that also featured Lynn Sherr of ABC News, who has written a memoir “Outside the Box;â€? Karen DeYoung, an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of a biography of Colin Powell called “Soldier”; and Justin Kaplan, whose new book is “When the Astors Owned New York.â€?

Had he considered opening a restaurant in Westchester on the Hudson River?

“No I haven’t, but I sure do like the view,” he said.

Afterward, when the authors signed their books, whose autograph was most in demand?

Meyer’s. His line stretched across the room. Was it the book or his good looks? two women wondered.

For anyone who did not check the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, here are the answers to yesterday’s citizenship quiz.

Question 9: How many amendments does the Constitution have?

Answer: 27

Question 22: The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

Answer: 435

Question 55: What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a constitution of limited powers?

Answer: The federal government has only the powers that the Constitution states that it has. The states have all the powers that the federal government does not.

Question 66: What is the current minimum wage?

Answer: $5.15

Question 91: There are 13 original states. Name three. (Or to make it tougher, name all 13)

Answer: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.

Question 100: Name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers.

Answer: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay

Question 132: What is the tallest mountain the United States?

Answer: Mount McKinley or Denali