Dream Girls, Brilliant Women December 3, 2012 DREAM GIRLS If you live near Washington, D.C. or will be visiting in the next few weeks, here is a really terrific revival of Dreamgirls. I saw it opening night 30 years ago and may have enjoyed this one, given all that’s gone down since, even more. BRILLIANT WOMEN Women perhaps do have something to offer. And not just when it come to chairing the committee that supervises the House cafeteria. (Sorry: could not resist. But you will recall that all 19 House chairs the Republicans selected for the next Congressional term were men . . . leading John Boehner to appoint Candice Miller — who was not even on it — to chair the House Administration Committee, to make it 19 men, 1 woman. Hats off to him for listening; but the Republicans arguably have a long way to go toward truly appreciating the talents of, and sharing power with, women.) Jibes aside, this article credits three American women with terrific leadership: . . . In Libya . . . three women saved the day: Obama’s adviser, Samantha Power; his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton; and his ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice. . . . The President did a pretty good job choosing his first Secretary of State. Maybe he should be allowed to choose his second. THE NUMBERS RACKET – II Mike H.: “Quick footnote to Mike Martin’s recap of the numbers racket in Friday’s post: In the early 1980s, I was a sports editor at one of New York’s daily papers. One of the most important things to get into each day’s paper was a small item that appeared in the tiny agate type at the end of the day’s horse racing results: the daily handle (the total amount of money bet at the track that day). Why was it so important? Because traditionally, the last three digits were what the mob used as the winning number for that day. Pretty smart system, actually—it was a random number easily checked and (more or less) beyond manipulation.” FRESH DIRECT IN NEW YORK AND PHILLY – II Mark W. Budwig: “Fresh Direct is not the only way to shop for groceries online and have them delivered locally in Manhattan. Food Emporium has free delivery on orders over $50 and and D’Agostino has the quickest service, even same-day. But the best prices and widest selection are at Peapod. Granted, Fresh Direct has great prepared food and excellent produce, but it’s expensive and the selection of ordinary groceries is very limited by comparison.”