Holiday parties are in full swing... Here are some newsy zingers to get you through any party conversation (especially the dull ones).

POLITICAL ZINGER
"So glad the lame-duck session of Congress is over so the 110th Congress can get down to business!"
Minimum wage will be a hot topic in the new session, with the Democrats pushing for $7.25 an hour from $5.15, still far from the $10.33-wage in Los Angeles, the highest in the nation.

By the way, a lame duck isn’t what Dick Cheney was hunting in February. J It’s the working time between November elections and the start of the new Congress, when politicians who lost or are retiring continue to participate in policy making. For some it’s the last opportunity to push unfinished business—without answering to voters.

ANOTHER POLITICAL ZINGER
“So, how ‘bout those Cheneys?”
Like it or not, the Cheney family is making headlines: Vice President Dick Cheney was called to testify in the 2003 CIA leak-related case. Daughter Mary Cheney is pregnant, much to the chagrin of conservative groups because she is a lesbian, and Lynne Cheney has a best-selling children’s book called “Our 50 States.”

BUSINESS ZINGER
“Oooooh, you’re a banker. Can I borrow some money?”
A banner year on Wall Street. The Dow Industrial Average is tapping record highs, and Goldman Sachs made more money in a year than any investment bank ever. Wall Street bonuses shot through the roof in 2006, with the average, according to the New York Comptroller, estimated to be $137,580, totaling a whopping $24 billion.

FOODIE ZINGER
“I’m loving the liqueur de tirage in this champagne.”
Wine, sugar and yeast make up the “liqueur de tirage” in champagne, a combination that kick-starts bubbly in the bottle and took wine makers about 100 years to perfect.

Happy Holidays!