Happy New Year!

Base10 has not been posting since the Holidays started. Frankly, he's been involved in some other projects.

First, Base10 has been doing some cross-posting in a new group blog he was instrumental in creating. So go check out OmapBlog, where Base10 exists as JG. Could this lead to Base10's revealing his secret identity as a crimefighter? Perhaps.

Second, Base10 has been experimenting with VNC clients and has been trying to use his formerly defunct Sony Vaio to host a website via dynamic DNS and his DSL account. Base10 has so far met with limited success. Hosting a website with Windows ME over a DSL connection is certainly living on the edge. To back up this, Base10 has also been experimenting with alternative hosts. Check out this partial mirror at Metawire.org. In any event VNC systems are most cool. Check out Ultr@VNC over at SourceForge. The bottom line is Base10 is looking to move beyond Blogger and Blogspot.

Third, Base10 frankly has been in a sort of funk these days. This year has been most sad for Base10 and the upcoming New Year does not inspire confidence. But Base10 certainly doesn't want to feel sorry for himself when we are witnessing one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. We gave a C-note to Americares and urge readers to give what they can to their favorite charities.

Fourth, the news in Indonesia just dwarves all talk of politics. Current death tolls are topping 135,000. Some experts believe the toll could ultimately reach a half-million. It's really hard to get worked up about politics or sports in this context.

In spite of all of this, Base10 urges you to have a Happy New Year! A new year means a new beginning. To quote from Gregg Easterbrook from of all things a football column in which he mentions the untimely demise of Reggie White:

There is no sure way to switch from levity to seriousness, but the loss of Reggie White at age 43, coupled with the loss of untold tens of thousands in the Indonesia earthquake, should remind us of the Roman saying memento mori -- bear in mind, you too shall die. It may happen tomorrow, it may happen in 50 years from now, but it will happen.

White was an active Christian. Jesus taught, "If the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched." One meaning of this teaching is that the end of life may come without warning; live every day prepared for it to be the last. That may sound bleak, but is the reverse. Approaching every day prepared for it to be the last raises your spiritual awareness, allows you appreciate the daily miracle of the sunrise, reminds you to show love, helps you to behave morally. Life is fragile and distressingly short. Keep this in mind as an aid to doing good and living fully in the one brief chance we are permitted. Surely, White knew the teaching about the thief and the householder, and when the end came for him in the night, we can hope his heart was ready. If the end came for you tonight, would you be?

This year's New Year's resolution is that we will indeed try to be ready and live life to the fullest every day. Happy Holidays!
- posted by Base10 @ 1:01 PM  1 comments

 
Happy Holidays, No Seriously

Base10 is working away like Bob Cratchit today getting ready for some Holiday cheer. The good news is, assuming no game goes into overtime, we will have a total of twenty-one hours of pro football between 3PM today and approximately midnight on Monday. This is going to be the best Christmas ever! Today at three, Minnesota faces Green Bay. Click here for a preview. As for tomorrow's games, well Base10 will write about those tomorrow!

- posted by Base10 @ 1:44 PM  0 comments

 
What's a Filibuster?

The President has announced that he will resubmit 20 judicial nominees to Federal District and Appeals courts that were not voted on by the full Senate. The candidates were denied a Senate vote by threats of Democratic filibusters. At stake is the ability of the President to name members of the judiciary. This move sets the stage for a Republican rule change disallowing the use of the filibuster in judicial nominations.

Fun facts about the Senate:

The concept of the filibuster can be found nowhere in the Constitution.

The so-called "cloture rule" that requires a supermajority to end debate (and therefore a filibuster) is not in the constitution either.

The cloture rule is established by Senate parlimentary rules.

Senate parlimentary rules can be changed by a simple majority.

The Constitution requires the Senate's advice and consent for judicial nominees. This implies a floor vote.

None of the 20 nominees were voted on by the whole Senate because the Dems used the filibuster.

Who's a threat to the Constitution again?

This is clearly being used to set the stage for a battle over a Supreme Court nominee.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:30 PM  0 comments

 
Y-M-C-A, It's Fun to Stay at the Y-M-C-A

"YMCA Chief Fired for Transgender Ball Flap" - AP.

(This may also be found in the Unfortunate Headline Department).


- posted by Base10 @ 1:19 PM  2 comments

 
The Longer that I Work on Attrition Estimates

The fewer people there are around me to look at them. Anyway, Base10 is working hard.

But satisfaction of satisfactions, the Boob is fired! Just announced, Bernard Kerik, erstwhile Police Commissioner of our fair city is now looking for gainful employment. NBC reports that Kerik resigned his position with Giuliani Partners. Ha Ha!
- posted by Base10 @ 5:27 PM  0 comments

 
Work, Work, Work

Well, Base10 has to get some work done. He will try to post more later.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:33 PM  0 comments

 
SHADO Update

John Barnes has an interesting article in NRO about the '70's cult TV series UFO. He suggests that the attitude of the main character would serve us well in Homeland Security.

It was an interesting show. Set in the early eighties, we had a moonbase and cool submarine-launched fighter planes. However you can tell the '60's predictions about what the '90's would be like. Apparently we would still be using dot matrix printers. Interestingly, the moonbase was manned almost entirely by beautiful women wearing purple wigs and mylar miniskirts. That's the kind of future I can dig! Click here for the fan site. They also have a very groovy soundtrack.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:32 PM  0 comments

 
Cell Phone Mutations

A European study found that electromagnetic rediation from cell phones can damage DNA in laboratory conditions. If this is true, Base10 will continue to use his phone in the hopes of getting a genetic mutation that will give him adamantium claws and superhuman healing.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:31 PM  0 comments

 
Kofi Annan Update

As if you needed anymore, here are some great reasons Kofi Annan should be fired. Read this article by Kenneth Cain in the Opinion Journal. It is genocide, not oil-for-food that is the issue upon which the Kofster should be judged. Speaking of Rwanda, Cain states,

But it isn't just the stench of death I remember so vividly; the odor of betrayal also hung heavily in the Rwandan air. This was not a genocide in which the U.N. failed to intervene; most of the U.N.'s armed troops evacuated after the first two weeks of massacres, abandoning vulnerable civilians to their fate, which included, literally, the worst things in the world a human being can do to another human being.

It did not have to happen. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the U.N.'s force commander in Rwanda, sent Mr. Annan a series of desperate faxes including one warning that Hutu militias "could kill up to 1,000" Tutsis "in 20 minutes" and others pleading for authority to protect vulnerable civilians. But at the crucial moment, Mr. Annan ordered his general to stand down and to vigorously protect, not genocide victims, assembled in their numbers waiting to die, but the U.N.'s image of "impartiality."

The outline of this story is well known, but its most important detail is not: Tutsis often gathered in compounds (large church complexes, schools and even stadiums) where they had assumed they would be safe based on implicit, and sometimes explicit, promises of protection by Blue Helmeted peacekeepers. The U.N.'s withdrawal was, therefore, not a passive failure to protect but an active, and lethal, perfidy.

Nice going Kofi. How about this in Serbia,

Some 3,300 miles directly north from Kigali is the town of Srebrenica, a grim, shell-pocked village on the border of Republika Srpska and Serbia. A few kilometers down a decrepit road is a sprawling abandoned battery factory. Ten years ago, thousands of Muslim civilians concentrated here seeking shelter at a U.N. base. But Serb militias separated the men and boys from their women and put them on buses. Armed Blue Helmeted U.N. Peacekeepers--tasked under Mr. Annan's leadership to protect Srebrenica's civilians in this U.N.-declared "Safe Area"--watched passively. The women of Srebrenica never saw their men again.

Thanks again Kofi! Then there's this item in the New Yorker describing the UN's policy on whistleblowers. They fire them. When they write things like this in a book,

The U.N. was here—in Rwanda—when the massacres started, twenty-five hundred troops. U.N. headquarters in New York knew it was being planned, they had files and faxes and informants, and they sat in their offices, consulted each other, and ate long lunches.

- posted by Base10 @ 1:30 PM  0 comments

 
Christmas Gifts

Base10 came across these links to send gifts to our servicemen abroad or for Iraqi children.

Operation Give specializes in "the collection and distribution of toys and other items for Iraqi children. After years of tyranny and war, the children of Iraq have almost nothing and are very grateful. With each toy we give to a needy child, we put a smile on their face and hope in their heart."

USOCares puts together "packages to be delivered to members of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed around the world to show them they have not been forgotten and to provide a ‘touch of home’."

SpiritofChistmas is a non-profit church-based non-partisan organizationthat supplied $200,000 in donated merchandise to our troops last year.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:23 PM  0 comments

 
Chad's a Nitwit and other NFL News

Last night's Monday Night Football game is once again a classic example of why football is a great sport. Having all the earmarks of a classic "trap" game, the New England Patriots sitting on twelve wins probably did not think it would take much to defeat the 2-11 Miami Dolphins last night. The Fish had other plans however, and stunned the Pats 29-28. Does this happen in other sports? A team that is eliminated from post-season play comes along and soundly beats the team that many pundits believe has the inside track to win the Superbowl. A game that should have been a snoozer made Base10 (and many others for that matter) stay up until the wee hours to watch the end. Truly a great game!

Of course it makes one wonder about the Jets. Had they beaten Pittsburg two weeks ago, and facing New England next week, Gang Grean I believe would have won the tie-breaker and could have taken the division. Oh well.

Of course last weeks Jets-Steelers game had other strange effects. Chad Pennington, at least momentarily, lost his mind. Chad went on a tirade in front of the press at the Monday's press conference. Chadwick apparently refused to meet with reporters after the Seattle win because he was peeved about the way the press treated him after the Steeler's loss. Chad, this is childish. This is New York City. It wasn't just the media questioning your ability to win a big game, it was your fans, dude! Do yourself and your team a favor, get over it and concentrate on winning next week. If you want people to stop suggesting you can't handle big games, go out and win one!

In other news, Philly fans are dealing with the crushing news that Terrell Owens will be out at least until the Superbowl. Will the Eagles make their usual swoon at the NFC Championship game? Only time will tell. Click here for the story.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:14 PM  0 comments

 
The Real Arab Street

Newsday has an interesting article by Fareed Zakaria who argues that Islamic extremists are losing the war for the hearts and minds of the Arab world. He points out devastating loss to the Islamic party in the Malasian elections and the economic reforms going on in Jordan and Egypt. Let's hope he's right.

Well maybe the news isn't all good. Peter Brookes argues that Osama is now working on Plan B, an effort to seize power in Saudi Arabia, possibly through peaceful means. The bad thing about this article is that it's actually plausible. It's a good read.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:03 PM  0 comments

 
Zamboni Explosion in Duluth

Oh the Humanity!
- posted by Base10 @ 5:00 PM  0 comments

 
Twenty Most Annoying Liberals

Rightwingnews.com has the 2004 list of the year's top twenty most annoying liberals. Click here to read it.
- posted by Base10 @ 4:57 PM  0 comments

 
Allah is Back?
One of Base10's favorite bloggers, Allahpundit, published a pretty funny picture. Click here. Is Allah back? He has not published much since the World Series and is sorely missed.
- posted by Base10 @ 4:27 PM  0 comments

 
Like You Should Talk

"Iran: Israel, U.S. Rigging Iraq Election" - Reuters

That's like Ghengis Khan complaining about how his troops are being mistreated. They're just marauding savages, why do you hate them so? Seriously, the article is stupid scary. Speaking on state TV about the recent Najaf and Karbala bombings, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (aka the big dopey dictatorial mullah) said, "I am sure Israeli and American spy services were behind these events. This is a plot which aims at keeping the Iraqis so busy that they will miss the exceptional chance to participate in the January 30 elections."

Meanwhile, 50 people were detained by Iraqi authorities investigating the Najaf bombing.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:56 AM  0 comments

 
Joy in Mudville (Jets Edition)

Base10 is having a pretty lousy morning so far due to train delays and the usual vagaries of Monday morning. But he is still happy. Why you ask? Base10's beloved Jets beat the pants off of Seattle 37-14. The game was almost perfectly ecxecuted. The offense was on and the defense was superb. It was the first time this year I think that the Jets decisively beat a good team.

Other than the Jets, there were some other great games yesterday. San Diego shutout Cleveland 21-0 in a snowstorm. That's how all games should be played! Jacksonville beat Green Bay 28-25 in snowless but sub-zero conditions at Lambeau Field. Base10 got a kick out of the fact that many of the Packers were wearing short sleeves. Base10 was made to shiver by seeing such a spectacle. In other news, Detroit lost a heartbreaker to Minnesota, 28-27. The had just scored the tying drive in the final moments but missed the extra point. It was due to a bad snap on the part of Don Muhlbach, Detroit's long snapper. Base10 only mentions this because he likes using the phrase "long snapper" in a sentence.

And finally, Philly fans getting a scare. Although Philly beat Dallas 12-7 in a tightly played game, wide receiver/loudmouth Terrell Owens went down after he appeared to hurt his knee on an awkward catch. The good news for Philly fans, is that there are no broken bones. The bad news, well we don't know yet.

Tonight's matchup pits Miami and New England. This has the hallmarks of a classic trap game. Don't think the Pats are just going to walk over them. Click here for a preview.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:33 AM  0 comments

 
A Couple of Must Reads

First, the ever readable Victor Davis Hanson on Broken Icons of the Left. He argues the left will never be taken seriously in foreigh affairs unless it couples values with policy. One quote:

What is preached in the madrassas on the West Bank, in Pakistan, and throughout the Gulf is no different from the Nazi doctrine of racial hatred. What has changed, of course, is that unlike our grandfathers, we have lost the courage to speak out against it. In one of the strangest political transformations of our age, the fascist Islamic Right has grafted its cause onto that of the Left’s boutique “multiculturalism,” hoping to earn a pass for its hate by posing as the “other” and reaping the benefits of liberal guilt due to purported victimization. By any empirical standard, what various Palestinian cliques have done on the West Bank — suicide murdering, lynching without trial of their own people, teaching small children to hate and kill Jews — should have earned them all Hitlerian sobriquets rather than U.N. praise.

Read the whole thing. Conservative should thank God we have writers like VDH.

Second, Jonah Goldberg writes that FDR is indeed dead. He comments on the left's obsession with the status quo when it comes to Social Security. A quote:

I have some advice for the real small-c conservatives and reactionaries in the debate over Social Security reform: Franklin Roosevelt is dead. Get over it. It seems every time I turn on the TV or the radio, I hear some opponent of reform whining that we're tinkering with FDR's "legacy." Who gives a rat's patoot?

Let's start with what should be obvious: If the current social-security system is a good deal, then it's a good deal. Period. If it's a bad deal for 300 million Americans, then it's a bad deal. Only a moron of ground-shaking proportions would argue that we should screw millions of low- and middle-income (or even, yes, rich) Americans out of a better retirement — and their own money! — out of respect to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's memory. What politician in his right mind would say, "Sure there's a better way, but we owe it to FDR to stick with this junk." I'm no fan of Henry Ford, but even if I thought he was the bomb, I can't imagine saying we owe it to Henry to keep driving Model Ts.

Third, Daniel Henninger in the Opinion Journal argues that American "hegemony" is not achieved through military means, but rather through cultural and technological ones. Describing the confluence of politics and technology: cell phones, SMS for the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, and blogs in China and Iraq. Quote:

Anyone want to guess the third-most used language on the Web, behind English and Chinese? Farsi. Iran now has about 75,000 individual Web logs. That's because a young, Toronto-based Iranian journalist who publishes as Hoder created tools in Farsi to make it possible. Only 10% of the Iranian blogs could be called political; most discuss music, movies, poetry and Iranian or Western culture. "Iran's most interesting political conversations take place in taxis," said Hoder.

There's more coming. Developers from California at the conference introduced the first Arabic-language blogging tool. Created with support from Spirit of America, it will be used now in Iraq. The Fadhil brothers of Iraqthemodel.com plan to assemble 25 Internet journalists to report the Jan. 30 election. This effort will be patterned after Ohmynews.com, the influential South Korean Web newspaper.

China uses up to 40,000 bureaucrats to police its explosion of blogs. We'll no doubt find out how many anti-Web divisions Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has. (One provocateur at the conference plausibly suggested the greatest opportunities for these technologies lie with one of the world's most monopolized precincts--local U.S. politics.) In Africa, by contrast, the best political communication occurs outside cyberspace, on talk-radio. The most interesting is Ghana's JoyFM (it maintains a lively Web site of Ghanaian news at myjoyonline.com).

There is no need to oversell the power of these technologies. What happened in Ukraine won't happen in Cairo next month. But unless Hosni Mubarak and Vladimir Putin can come up with a way to shut down every engineer and programmer in America who is inventing new ways to output/input ideas and tweaking the ones we already have, they've got a problem.

Their problem--and the promise here--is that this stuff is moving the world's people, and fast, toward the one American product that governing elites really need to fear: free speech. Some at the Berkman conference worried this still isn't enough to "change things." Jeff Jarvis, one of this movement's most intelligent thinkers set them straight: "This is not about causes or organizing people. It's about us creating these tools and then simply having faith in people who use them elsewhere to do good."

Again, well worth a Sunday afternoon read. See you at the games!
- posted by Base10 @ 10:26 AM  0 comments

 
Even More Kerik Boobery

The scandal that just won't go away got another boost today. The NY Daily News reports today that Kerik sent emails to one of his best friends, the head of a company called Interstate Industrial. The emails allegedly disclosed details of city investigations into Interstate's mob ties and gave advance notice of city contracts.

The Bernie Phenomenon appear to be nearly dead. MSNBC is reporting that a planned Miramax biopic about Bernie is being canned. I wonder who would have played Bernie?

Base10 is pleased to see that Bernie has entered the national debate. Myrna Blyth at NRO notes that Bernie's career may not be over. Look at the ressurection of such fellow boobs like Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, or Martha Stewart. So perhaps Bernie has a future in reality TV. Or maybe he could just appear in Jackass?
- posted by Base10 @ 9:29 AM  0 comments

 
Football Preview

Base10 took the day off from blogging yesterday because, well, we're already in the midst of a great football weekend. Three games yesterday and many more today. Assuming three hours a game, we're talking about twenty-four hour of football this weekend. Hoorah!

Yesterday's games were really good. Giants fans are sad at a 33-30 loss to Pittsburgh, but are perhaps feeling better because of a god performance by Eli Manning. In the four o'clock game, Washington predictably dominated San Francisco 26-16. Base10 must say that Washington defense looked great, but I suppose many would against SF. A This game was followed by a terrific night game between Carolina and Atlanta. A see-saw matchup, the teams battled to a tie at the end of the fourth quarter. Atlanta intercepted a Jake Dellhomme pass in OT and got the go ahead field goal making it 33-31.

In NCAA footbal news, Linfield College won 28-21 beating Mary Hardin-Baylor in the Division III Championship. Base10 is not surprised, an entire college defeating one woman. How unfair!

Today offers some great matchups as well. Base10's beloved Jets play Seattle at 1PM. Click here for a preview. Later in the day, Jacksonville meets Green Bay at Lambeau Field. Click here for a preview. At first, snow was predicted for this game, but that doesn't seem to be the case now, but note that the game time temperature is predicted to be -2 degrees. Frozen tundra indeed. Of course, the game everyone is waiting for is the night game involving Indianapolis and Baltimore and Payton Manning's possible record breaking touchdown. Click here for a preview.

Enjoy.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:01 AM  0 comments

 
Photoblogging from Work III

As promised, the unfortunately named Bernard B. Kerik Complex. Base10
predicts it will have the unenviable distinction of being the only
correctional facility in the world that will someday house the person
after whom it is named.

- posted by Base10 @ 7:00 PM  0 comments

 
Photoblogging from Work II

These two ladies guard the back of the NYS Supreme Court building on Centre Street.
They seem to be justice and mercy or something like that. Oddly, New York
calls its lowest court of general jurisdiction the "Supreme Court."

This is the one on the left. She's holding a sword and a shield. The whole
thing is vaguely Sapphic.

This is the one on the right. She's got scrolls and stuff. She must
be a defense lawyer.

- posted by Base10 @ 6:30 PM  0 comments

 
Photoblogging from Work I: When Art Goes Bad

Base10 decided to do a little photoblogging this afternoon. This monstrosity
is right in front of Police Headquarters. It's called "5-in-1" by someone
named Rosenthal. It's supposed to represent the five boroughs. You know,
the structure can't stand unless all five pieces are interlocked. Get it?
This must have been hysterically pretentious in the seventies. Man, don't
you get the meaning? If one borough comes out, all the others fall. It's
so deep man! Base10 hopes that the Police Commissioner will push for
some study that will declare this hideous piece of trash to be unsafe thereby
resulting in its demolition. Please, how about a statue of Teddy Roosevelt?

- posted by Base10 @ 6:27 PM  0 comments

 
Another Reason Why...

You should never bring a rifle to a tank fight.

Check out this video over at StrategyPage.com
- posted by Base10 @ 1:34 PM  0 comments

 
More New York Pitching News

Unwilling to see the spotlight shine only on the Mets, who signed Pedro "Who's Your Daddy?" Martinez to a four-year deal, it looks like the Boss will sign Randy Johnson. The Big Unit got traded to Bronx in a blockbuster three-team trade. Johnson will make $16 million next year and is expected to get a lucrative 2-3 year extension from the Yanks. Next season's looking more and more interesting.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:18 AM  0 comments

 
Every Time I Walk Away, the Boob Keeps Pulling Me Back In

It's not a good day to be Bernard Kerik. It's really hasn't been his week or his month for that matter. The allegations against him keep mushrooming. In NY Newsday, there is a report that Kerik skipped filling out his backround questionaire when he became Police Commissioner. There's also speculation that this could fireup the criminal investigation into Anthony Serra, Kerik's successor at Corrections and his deputy while serving there.

Here's an item about contract fixing with a company awarded a contract by the NYPD that Kerik later joined.

The NY Daily News reports--well let's just say, "Let the Probing Begin!"

For all those keeping score, this piece in the Village Voice has a nice, concise listing of all the scandals.

And finally, here's an item about the Bernard B. Kerik Complex, a correctional facility located in lower Manhattan (Base10 may photoblog this later) named after the erstwhile Commissioner. The city is not changing the name just jet, but Base10 has made this prediction before: the Bernard B. Kerik Complex will become the first correctional facility in the world to house the person after whom it is named.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:49 AM  0 comments

 
Light Blogging Today

Or is that Blogging Lite^TM? I don't know. What I do know is that it's Friday (Yay!) and it's the week before Christmas (Yay!) and the office party is tonight, but Base10 may not go (Aw!). In addition, Base10 has some silly school work to do before the end of the day.

In the spirit of the Holidays Base10 would like to thank all his readers. Page views and uniques have dramatically increased recently. It's still far away from where I'd like to be, but it's certainly a start.

In the interim, amuse yourselves at IMAO. Frank J. has some interesting suggestions to help the Democrats. Base10 especially like the part about the Nachos.

Base10 will try to publish intermittently throughout the day, but will probably not get to anything until this evening.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:20 AM  0 comments

 
Traitor!

CBS News tells the story of Sgt. Camilo Mejia, the man who abandoned his unit in Iraq and deserted. CBS can use all the justifications it wants but as far as Base10 is concerned this is disgraceful. He should have to face the death sentence for desertion. Coward.
- posted by Base10 @ 6:27 PM  0 comments

 
What's My Lineage?

Perhaps reality TV shows have gone too far. After reading this, I tend to agree.

Reality show uses adoption to create drama
On ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ a daughter guesses who's her real father

The Associated Press
Updated: 6:52 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2004


NEW YORK - The Fox network said Tuesday it will air a special next month, “Who’s Your Daddy?”, where a daughter given up for adoption as an infant attempts to guess the identity of her birth father for a $100,000 prize.

Activists in the adoption community immediately attacked the special, which will air for 90 minutes on Jan. 3.

“This is really perverse,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan P. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a research and policy organization. “It takes a deeply personal and important experience and turns it into a money-grubbing game show. I think it is despicable.”

A Fox network spokesman would not comment on the special, referring all calls to the producers, who said people shouldn’t judge before watching.

“I find it curious that people are calling it that without having seen an episode,” said Scott Hallock, one of three executive producers of the series for the Fox Television Studios. “You might get the impression from the title that it is somehow salacious or exploitive. But nothing could be further from the truth.”

Let the games begin
The woman who is the focus of the show, not identified by Fox, and her birth father were both involved in simultaneous searches for each other.

Her natural dad will be one of eight men presented to her, all claiming to be her father. She will be given opportunities to observe and interview the men to narrow the field, the network announced.

If she correctly guesses which man is her father, the woman can win as much as $100,000. If she is incorrect, the imposter that she chose will win the money, Fox said.

Either way, the special will end with the father and daughter being reunited.

Joseph Kroll, executive director of the North American Council on Adoptable Children, called the idea “repulsive.” He said his own 29-year-old daughter is searching for her birth father.

“If someone were to try doing that to my daughter, what I consider to be abuse, I would not behave appropriately,” Kroll said.

Denigrating to families
Pertman, a former Boston Globe reporter and author of the book “Adoption Nation,” predicted the television show would denigrate the experiences of families who have gone through adoption.

“It really is sort of one-stop shopping for insulting millions of people, maybe tens of millions,” he said.

Producers have already filmed six “Who’s Your Daddy?” episodes, although Fox has only scheduled one of them for air at this point. Hallock said participants were sought through ads that made it clear the solicitation was part of a TV production.

Viewers are invited to play the game along with the adoptive daughter; the father’s real identity will not be made clear until the end of the show.

All the participants felt it was a positive experience, said Kevin Healey, another executive producer.

“Our main focus was to see that it would be a positive experience and we were determined not to go forward with it if that was not the case,” Healey said.

Fox had been known to be working on the show for months. This past summer, in a public tiff with Fox over competing boxing reality shows, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker revealed Fox was working on the concept. Angry that Zucker had discussed their internal plans, Fox executives wouldn’t comment on it.

© 2004 The Associated Press.

- posted by Base10 @ 6:13 PM  0 comments

 
Drugs in Afghanistan

Christopher Hitchens, the normally erudite writer for Vanity Fair and Slate seems to have lost his mind.

"Let the Afghan Poppies Bloom: How the drug war is undermining the war on terrorism." By Christopher Hitchens

- posted by Base10 @ 5:46 PM  0 comments

 
I Supose the Rebels Were Just Going to Hold Hands

Base10 doesn't know what to make of this item in AP/Yahoo. The three IRA members who were jailed in Colombia for training FARC terrorists have lost a judicial appeal and have been sentenced to between 17 and 17 and 1/2 years for aiding the terrorists.

Base10 is glad they're going to do some time. Colombia is a beautiful country that has been ravaged by sectarian violence and narco-terrorism. But this item is a something else.

In the article, the writer notes that the accused Irishmen are accused of "teaching fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, how to make bombs."

Note FARC is not described as a terrorist organization. Later in the story the author notes that the three were in hiding "amid concern they could be targeted by right-wing death squads angry over their alleged ties to the FARC."

Now Base10 is all for calling a spade a spade. If right-wing murderers in Colombia can be called "death-squads," surely left-wing murderers can be called "terrorists." But not apparently by the AP.
- posted by Base10 @ 5:33 PM  0 comments

 
Christmas for the Democrats

The always readable Peggy Noonan has a thoughtful column in the Opinion Journal about Democrat's use of symbols. She argues that Democrats are convinced that Republicans packaged their message using the proper symbolism and this led to their victory. The probelm as they see it is their inability to properly package their message. Noonan argues it's not the symbols that count, but the message itself. She suggests the Dems take a firm stand against that small group on the looney left that wants to sanitize Christmas of any religious meaning. The DNC would send a powerful message if it stated it no longer supported these efforts. No one can say it better that her:

Stop the war on religious expression in America. Have Terry McAuliffe come forward and announce that the Democratic Party knows that a small group of radicals continue to try to "scrub" such holidays as Christmas from the public square. They do this while citing the Constitution, but the Constitution does not say it is wrong or impolite to say "Merry Christmas" or illegal to have a crèche in the public square. The Constitution says we have freedom of religion, not from religion. Have Terry McAuliffe announce that from here on in the Democratic Party is on the side of those who want religion in the public square, and the Ten Commandments on the courthouse wall for that matter. Then he should put up a big sign that says "Merry Christmas" on the sidewalk in front of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters on South Capitol Street. The Democratic Party should put itself on the side of Christmas, and Hanukkah, and the fact of transcendent faith.

This would be taking a stand on an issue that roils a lot of people, and believe me those people don't think conservatives are scrubbing America of Christmas, they think it's liberals; and they don't think it's Republicans, they think it's Democrats. Confound them, Terry! Come forward with a stand. It is the stand that is the salvation, not mysterious words or codes or magic messages.

Do this, Democrats. Announce you will apply pressure to antireligious zealots throughout the country. You have nothing to lose but a silly and culturally unhelpful reputation as the party that is hostile to religious expression. What you could gain is respect and gratitude. Pick up that Christmas tree, Terry, take it outside and put a star on top, stand next to it, yell Merry Christmas and ring a bell. That's a manipulation of symbols that would actually make sense.

- posted by Base10 @ 4:54 PM  0 comments

 
Doubly Stupid Christmas

A city in Washington displays a Christmas tree in front of its city hall. The tree is decorated with, among other things, requests for gifts from needy families. Passersby can donate to this surely worthy cause. The tree typically generates about $25,000. So far so good.

Here's where the wierd stuff starts. The town, in amazing PC fashion, does not refer to the tree as a "Christmas Tree" but as a "Giving Tree." This is statement I suppose about the universal nature of Christmas.

Now a story like this might get you to shake your head, but it gets better. Apparently the "Giving Tree" isn't enough. Two athiests in the community have complained that the tree offends them. The city so far is sticking by its guns. Think the ACLU will sue?

The thing that makes this doubly funny though is that the above events take place in the town of Bellevue.

Read the whole story.

Via Drudge.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:36 PM  0 comments

 
Ha Ha

Frank J.'s Hate-Filled Lefty meets Islamic terrorists at IMAO.

Also, check out IMAO's vote for this year's Christmas music.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:06 PM  0 comments

 
Canadian Missile Defense

The big military story today is the failure of a missile defense test yesterday. A missile launched from a Pacific atol was supposed to intercept a simulated ICBM launched from Alaska. The interceptor failed to launch for an unknown reason. A setback fro the program for sure, but let's not give up on it.

Meanwhile in Canada, PM Paul Martin said that he would not "fund" the US missile defense system, apparently believing that allowing UN anti-missile facilities on Canadian soil is a form of payment. Here's a thought. How about we perfect the system, deploy it and then make the Canadians pay for protection? Maybe we can even design it so that the intercepted missiles fall in Canada.
- posted by Base10 @ 2:25 PM  0 comments

 
I Used to Like Chevy Chase

Drudge has a story about an outrageous speech made by Chevy Chase at the Kennedy Center last night. Pitiful. Never take political advice from the guy who made those "Fletch" movies.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:48 PM  0 comments

 
More U.N. "Successes"

Roger L. Simon has an interesting piece about the outrageous refusal of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to provide assistance to members of the Iraqi tribunal set up to try war crimes. Read the last update for another of the Kofster's great ideas about the internet.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:37 PM  0 comments

 
More on Kofi

MSNBC reports that Kofi Annan has stated that the UN has enough monitors in Iraq. Read the article and discover the total number of UN monitors is...drumroll please...25!
- posted by Base10 @ 1:27 PM  0 comments

 
Season's Greetings

Those whacky guys at JibJab are at it again and just in time for the Holidays. Check it out here.

Via the Base10 Cousin.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:08 PM  0 comments

 
Pretty Scary

Heather MacDonald had a great op-ed piece in the NY Post yesterday explaining why DHS is a mess even without Bernard Kerik.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:05 PM  0 comments

 
Why do I Watch the Today Show Again?

Check out this outrageous piece about the Today Show.

Via Carnival of the Vanities.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:02 PM  0 comments

 
I Think He's the Chupacabra

Check out this unintentionally hysterical piece in the Seattle Weekly:

"Is Bush the Antichrist? - The Christian right and the Christian left are engaged in a debate over who 'owns' Jesus—and whether Dubya is a force for good or evil." by Tim Appelo

Via Instapundit.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:52 AM  0 comments

 
Not a Good Week to be Donald Rumsfeld

Pressure against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld continues. Previously, Sen. John McCain has stated that he has "lost confidence" in Rumsfeld. McCain's concerns about the war though didn't stop him from thratening to hold up all Senate business on the final day of the lame duck session unless the full body cast a vote for his pet project: a national boxing commission.

Other political figures are jumping aboard the ship on a collision course with Rummy. McCain was also joined by Sen. Chuck Hagel. And Sen. Trent Lott also said Rumsfeld should go.

You know, if it weren't for the Kerik misstep, I would have more confidence in the President's judgment. Certainly there were mistakes made in the prosecution of the war. Maybe it is a good idea to get some new ideas in there. At the very least, it would would quiet some critics. If that happens, the Pentagon will no longer be able to utilize the fighting style of Donald Rumsfeld.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:13 AM  0 comments

 
Here He Goes Again

Seveal news sources are reporting the appearance of a new Osama bin Laden tape on an Islamic website. He surprised everyone by calling for peace. Just kidding. He praised the terrorist attacks on the US consulate in Saudi Arabia. Numb nuts gave one of his usual diatribes.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:53 AM  0 comments

 
This is Just Too Wierd

'Lap Pillow' Offers Solace to Lonely Men - Reuters.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:50 AM  0 comments

 
Economic Recovery and the Fed

Lawrence Kudlow has an interesting article in Townhall about the Fed's recent rate hike. He points out that the President did the correct thing in the aftermath of 9/11: he cut taxes. This along with the Fed's easing of interest rates was exactly the stimulus the economy needed. The Dem's constant asertion that tax cuts are bad for the economy is easily remedied by minimal exposure to Macro 101.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:38 AM  0 comments

 
It is Balloon!

Slashdot has an interesting article on use of high altitude blimps to provide internet access. The best comment: "Oh the conectivity!" Here's a link to the original article in the Economist.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:22 AM  0 comments

 
Here's Your Daddy

According to NY1, Pedro Martinez passed his physical and is now a Met.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:18 AM  0 comments

 
Palestine and the Middle East

Sen. Joe Biden has an interesting op-ed piece in the LA Times. He argues that the US and others should support Abu Abbas in the near term since he represents the best chance for a lasting peace in the region. Sen. Biden also recognizes that much of the militarism in the West Bank and Gaza is being funded by Iran and Syria.

Frankly, Base10 doesn't know what to make of the current situation. Abbas is portrayed as a moderate. Now that he has ascended to the Fatah leadership, the press has been all over him. See this, this and this. (Of course not all agree, see this about the other face of Abbas). It is of course easy to be sceptical when Palestinian politics as usual basically involves the use of automatic weapons.

Even Hamas has alternatively supported peace, rejected peace and agreed to peace in "principle."

Base10 tends to agree with George Will. He suggested that real peace will only hold when a thorough de-nazification occurs in Palestine.

The only thing that's certain is that peace has a better chance now than it did when Arafat was alive. Let's hope this doesn't all fall to nothing and at least the journey begins. Base10 thinks there's going to be some sort of civil war between Fatah and Hamas. It's inevitable. The Hamas religious miltiants have already established themselves as a de facto government in Gaza. They are not going to go lie down for Fatah when they're getting funding from Iranian and Egyptian extremists. The West should support Abbas, and hope the civil war isn't too bloody. But don't bet on it.
- posted by Base10 @ 6:26 PM  0 comments

 
European Impotence, Literally
Jonah Goldberg has an interesting column about Europe's failure to deal with Islamic immigration. He notes:

Europe has real problems much closer to home, which cannot be pinned on George W. Bush - unless he's the cause of continent-wide European impotence or some other mood-killing phenomenon that's preventing Europeans from making babies. Across Europe, birthrates are plunging, as children are seen as impediments to the good life rather than its reward. Not too long ago, the EUreaucrats predicted that they'd need 50 million more immigrants simply to maintain their lavish social welfare states.

Base10 disagrees with Jonah Goldberg. Europeans will find a way to blame this on Bush.

- posted by Base10 @ 6:18 PM  0 comments

 
New (to me) Website

Base10 came across this blog, TimesWatch, which well like it says "reports and documents the bias in the New York Times." Pretty good site. I may start reading articles there in lieu of the Times itself.
- posted by Base10 @ 5:58 PM  0 comments

 
Headline Contest

Drudge has his year-end headline contest. So far, the winner by a very large margin is "Bush Wins." Base10's favorite of course is the one involving Boob Kerik, "On Second Thought, Mr. President."
- posted by Base10 @ 5:34 PM  0 comments

 
No Washington Filibusters

Reuters reports that the deal by Washignton DC to acquire the former Montreal Expos has apparently fallen through. The DC City Council has required that half the stadium construction costs be raised privately. This would require about $140 million in private money by June. DC's mayor declared that the deal is all but dead because of it. The team, called the Washington Nationals (Base10 prefered the Washington Filibusters) was supposed to start playing in DC this season.
- posted by Base10 @ 4:11 PM  0 comments

 
News From Iraq

ABC is reporting that "Chemical Ali" will be the first member of Saddam Hussein's regime to go on trial for war crimes. Let's hope this doesn't drag on like Scott Peterson. (But let's hope it has the same result).

Meanwhile Iraq's Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan slammed Iran and Syria for interference in Iraq and supporting the insurgency.

Unfortunately, a bomb attack at a Shiite holy site in Karbala killed seven people. This kind of attack is obviously a blatant attempt to foment civil unrest between Shiites and Sunnis.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:48 PM  0 comments

 
Say it Isn't So...

Breaking the hearts of male tennis fans (and most other heterosexual males as well), Anna Kournikova has reportedly married Enrique Iglesias.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:45 PM  0 comments

 
Take This Bus to Cuba

"Bus Hijackers Set $1 Million Ransom Deadline" - Reuters.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:16 PM  0 comments

 
Some Consider Him an Innovator

"Drinking game puts Perth man near death" - The West Australian.

A 21-year-old Perth man is lucky to be alive after having his stomach ripped open during a beer-skolling game using a home-made device powered by an electric pump.

The drinking game at a 21st birthday party in a southern suburb 10 days ago went badly wrong, rupturing the man's stomach and forcing beer straight into his abdomen.

The man, who is in St John of God Hospital in Murdoch and spent a week in intensive care fighting for his life, was among a group of friends at a private party who used the device.

It is believed to have consisted of a helmet fitted with a jug from which a hose was attached to a pump that was powered by a power drill.

Another hose from the pump was placed in his mouth and the pump was switched on, pushing beer from the jug down his throat.

The man, a mechanical drafter who did not want his name published, said yesterday that about six other party-goers had used the "jug helmet" before him.

"No one else had any problems and I didn't think it would be any different to other things like funnels that people use," he said.

"But I knew something wasn't right soon after I drank from it. I started spewing up red stuff and was in a lot of pain."

- posted by Base10 @ 1:30 PM  0 comments

 
Revitalizing the Liberals

The ever-readable Geoge F. Will has an interesting piece today. He compares the plight of today's Democratic party with the Liberals of 1947. Will suggests that the Democrats need to develop international hawks, like Joe Biden or Joe Lieberman. As Joe Biden said there is an "overwhelming obligation" to use "the full measure of our power" against radical Islam. Will points out that the MoveOn.orgs and the Michael Moore's of the party are much more firmly entrenched that the reactionary John Birchers were in relationship to the early conservative movement.

It's really an interesting and thought provoking read.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:16 PM  0 comments

 
More Boobery

There's another item about Kerik today. NY1 reports that his love nest in Battery Park City was an apartment used by rescue worker to rest in the initial aftermath after 9/11. Many of the local landlords provided vacant apartments such as this for emergency workers that were basically there 24/7. Acording to the story, Kerik took over the rent on the apartment after the 9/11 situation stabilized. The reporter could not obtain the actual rent paid.

Does anyone really think that Bernie paid one cent out of his own pocket for this pad? This is especially true given that rents there can go for $50,000 a year.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:04 PM  0 comments

 
Bowl Schedule

Base10 was perusing the College Bowl schedule for good matchups. Check it out here and bask in NCAA Football goodness. Aside from the biggies, Base10 likes the Florida-Miami matchup on 12/31 and the Florida State-W. Virginia collision on 1/1.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:42 AM  0 comments

 
More Kerik the Boob Scandals

Bernie just can't get a break. In a report in the New York Post, Bernie's breakup with publishing magnate Judith Regan was not pretty. After she found out about both his other mistress and his pregnant wife, apparently she gave Bernie his walking papers. Unfortunately, he apparently couldn't take no for an answer. Among other claim in the piece, Bernie had Regan followed to L.A., made repeated calls cursing and threatening her, and would show up unnanounced at her apartment. Bernie, that's called stalking!

In a separate item in the NY Daily News, reporters question how Kerik was able to buy two apartments in Riverdale and pay for what they describe as opulent renovations there, when he was too broke to pay for his own wedding reception around the same time. Curiously, the constuction firm is run by a man with connections to N.J.'s most prominent Gambino crime boss and is currently sentenced to 4 and 1/2 years in prison for bid rigging. Interestingly, the engineer on the project is also a jailbird.

At this rate, nobody is ever going to look to the NYPD to fill a top position again. Base10 still wants to know who was paying for that lovenest Bernie had going in Battery Park City? You know it wasn't coming out of his pocket. Base10 was going to write that this was the last Bernie post, but that's looking pretty unlikely now.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:24 AM  0 comments

 
Would This Fly in New York

Drudge has a link to an interesting story about an LA court that issued an order evicting everyone from a 24-unit housing complex. The development in question was a haven for drug dealing, shootings and robberies by the Crips gang. The property must be vacant for 90 days and can only be used in the future for commercial purposes with court approval. This kind of decision is apparently the first of its kind, but Base10 thinks it will not survive the appeals process in liberal LA.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:15 PM  0 comments

 
NFL Wrap

Base10 watched the Chiefs-Titans matchup on Monday Night Football last night. It was a pretty good game. The Chiefs won 49-38, and it amazed Base10 that two teams that were 4-8 going into last nights collision managed to play so hard and put out such an exciting product.

In other football news, Notre Dame has announced that their new head coach will be Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. This could hurt New England in the long run if too many of Weis's assistants decide to go with him.

For those interested, the minor college bowl games start tonight. The New Orleans Bowl features a matchup between North Texas and Southern Miss. Click here for a preview.

Last, Base10's favorite football columnist, Tuesday Morning Quarterback is up at NFL.com.
- posted by Base10 @ 6:28 PM  0 comments

 
There Go Those Whacky Guys From DARPA Again

"US Air Force works on plan for near-space vehicle" - Reuters.

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. Air Force officials are working on a strategy to put surveillance aircraft in "near space," the no man's land above 65,000 feet but below an outer space orbit, Air Force chief of staff Gen. John Jumper said on Tuesday.

Jumper said he would meet next Tuesday with the head of the Air Force Space Command, Gen. Lance Lord, to map out plans to get lighter-than-air vehicles into that region above the earth, where they could play a vital role in surveillance over trouble spots like Iraq.

Jumper said the Air Force was working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to develop a stealthy aircraft without metal that could be equipped with special sensors and remain in the air for months at a time, keeping a watchful eye on specific regions of concern.

Emphasis added. Via Drudge.
- posted by Base10 @ 4:53 PM  0 comments

 
I Am Not a Crook

"Annan's son decries oil-for food probe" - UPI.

Kojo called it a "witchhunt." What exactly qualified him to work for Cotecna aside from his relationship with dear old dad?
- posted by Base10 @ 4:48 PM  0 comments

 
Rockefeller Drug Laws

Quietly, the NYS Legislature has passed significant changes to the so-called Rockefeller drug laws. The Governor has indicated he will sign the "reforms." Most critics of the laws condemn them for being too harsh, especially for first time offenders. As this Google search reveals, the word "draconian" seems to go hand in hand with this issue in the lefty media. But not everyone is in favor. The NYS District Attorney's Association is opposed to any change, saying it would remove any leverage to force pleas. They argued in a 2002 letter that,

Unfortunately, concerns over isolated and rare lengthy prison sentences resulting from mandatory minimum sentences for AI drug offenses have fueled the distorted, across-the-board campaign of advocates, some of whose true agenda appears to be decriminalization of drug dealing. These special interest groups have promoted the dangerous myths that our prisons are filled with non-violent drug possessors, that most drug sellers are addicts who sell to finance their habits, and that judges currently lack discretion to differentiate between drug addicts and predatory dealers. These myths have taken root in much of the media coverage of these issues and have generated some well-meaning proposals for "reform" that, if adopted, will not only release predatory and violent drug dealers into our communities, but in the bargain will undermine the successful treatment of truly addicted offenders.

Base10 would like to remind readers of two points. First, New York State and New York City did not see the most massive reductions in crime in their history because we gave drug users and drug dealers a free ride. Second, the same members of the judiciary who advocate for changes to the law are the ones responsible for their passage. If judges had not completely abrogated their responsibilities to the public therby creating a revolving-door criminal justice system, there would have been no need for the Rockefeller laws in the first place. New York will rue the day that these so-called "reforms" take effect.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:34 PM  0 comments

 
More Good News from Afghanistan

Base10 must have missed this yesterday.

"Freedom Blooms - A roundup of the past month's good news from Afghanistan." - ARTHUR CHRENKOFF, Opinion Journal.

- posted by Base10 @ 1:29 PM  0 comments

 
Don't Hold Your Breath

"Abbas Calls for End of Armed Uprising" - AP.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:27 PM  0 comments

 
I Really Must Have Word with My Boss

"High-Pressure Deadlines Boost Heart-Attack Risk, Study Finds" - Bloomberg
- posted by Base10 @ 1:15 PM  0 comments

 
Way to Go Bill!

"Bill Would Allow Tenants To Replace Dead Pets" - NY1.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:02 PM  0 comments

 
It Pays to be a Friend of Clinton

The NY Post reports that Marc Rich, the billionaire controversialy pardoned by Bill Clinton during his final days in office, is up to his neck in the Oil-for-Food scandal:

Billionaire Marc Rich has emerged as a central figure in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal and is under investigation for brokering deals in which scores of international politicians and businessmen cashed in on sweetheart oil deals with Saddam Hussein, The Post has learned.

Rich, the fugitive Swiss-based commodities trader who received a controversial pardon from President Bill Clinton in January 2001, is a primary target of criminal probes under way in the U.S. attorney's office in New York and by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, sources said.

"We think he was a major player in this — a central figure," a senior law-enforcement official told The Post.

Base10 wonders if any of that money found its way to the Clinton campaign?
- posted by Base10 @ 11:37 AM  0 comments

 
This is Pretty Cool

Slashdot reports that Google is digitizing the bulk of Harvard's library and will provide all public domain works online. Also in the works are Oxford, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the New York Public Library. How cool is that?
- posted by Base10 @ 11:32 AM  0 comments

 
Please!

Reuters headline:
"Islamic Scholar, Visa Withheld, Gives Up U.S. Post" - Reuters.

Fun facts about Tariq Ramadan, the "scholar" in question:

He has praised the brutal Islamist policies of the Sudanese politician Hassan Al-Turabi. Mr. Turabi in turn called Mr. Ramadan the "future of Islam."

Mr. Ramadan was banned from entering France in 1996 on suspicion of having links with an Algerian Islamist who had recently initiated a terrorist campaign in Paris.

Ahmed Brahim, an Algerian indicted for Al-Qaeda activities, had "routine contacts" with Mr. Ramadan, according to a Spanish judge (Baltasar Garzón) in 1999.

Djamel Beghal, leader of a group accused of planning to attack the American embassy in Paris, stated in his 2001 trial that he had studied with Mr. Ramadan.

Along with nearly all Islamists, Mr. Ramadan has denied that there is "any certain proof" that Bin Laden was behind 9/11.

He publicly refers to the Islamist atrocities of 9/11, Bali, and Madrid as "interventions," minimizing them to the point of near-endorsement.

Intelligence agencies suspect that Mr. Ramadan (along with his brother Hani) coordinated a meeting at the Hôtel Penta in Geneva for Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy head of Al-Qaeda, and Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheikh, now in a Minnesota prison.

Mr. Ramadan's address appears in a register of Al Taqwa Bank, an organization the State Department accuses of supporting Islamist terrorism.

Source: Daniel Pipes.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:27 AM  0 comments

 
Good News from Afghanistan

Reuters is reporting that Afghan forces have captured Mullah Omar's security chief near Kandahar. Good work lads!
- posted by Base10 @ 11:25 AM  0 comments

 
Bernard Kerik is Like a Large Italian Fog

NY Newsday is reporting that everyone's favorite former candidate for Homeland Security Secretary has more dark secrets. Apparently, Bernie had a third wife that he never mentioned to anyone even his close friends and did not disclose in his bio. Newsday opines:

Kerik and Hales, who has since remarried and changed her name to Priest, were married Aug. 10, 1978, when she was 27 and he was three weeks shy of 24, according to her lawyer, Ronnie Mitchell. They separated in 1982 and were officially divorced June 6, 1983, Mitchell told Newsday.

In Kerik's book, however, he wrote that he married Jacqueline in the winter of 1983, raising questions about whether his first and second marriages overlapped.

In case you don't get the joke, a large Italian fog is a big-a-mist.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:21 AM  0 comments

 
What Base10 Has Learned

Base10 has seen a dramatic increase in hits this past week. He can only surmise that the folowing rules apply:

1. The more you post the more hits you get. Conclusion: spend as much time at work blogging as possible. Your other responsibilities are secondary to increasing your traffic.

2. Hits drastically increase when you excoriate a well known current or former public official.

3. Use the word "boob" repeatedly in your blog. This is especially helpful in connection with (2) above. The B word seems to attract hits all on its own.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:00 PM  0 comments

 
How Many Jurors Does it Take to Sentence a Vicious Killer to Death?

Twelve. Ha Ha!

Seriously, Scott Peterson will never be executed. According to the story, California has only executed 10 people since reinstating the death penalty in 1978. The last person was executed in 2002 for a 1980 murder. If that's typical, Peterson will live at least to 2024 and see his fifty-fifth year. I hope every moment of that time he suffers as much as his murdered wife and dead unborn child.
- posted by Base10 @ 8:27 PM  0 comments

 
Why the Democrats Lost the Election
or
Not so Polite

Democrats have lost their minds. Check out this story from Lancaster PA. When a vendor in a local farmers market displayed a picture of President Bush, the local councilman--who deserves to be mentioned by name--Nelson Polite (who also happens to be a Democrat, but gee did that surprise anyone?) asked that it be removed. When the vendor refused, Polite threatened to pass an ordinance banning all political items from public places in the city. Dude, maybe they didn't teach you this in councilman school. There's a little thing called the First Amendment. It applied to Republicans too. You can't ban political speech in public places. Period. Crawl back under the liberal rock you squirmed out from.

Via Drudge.
- posted by Base10 @ 8:09 PM  0 comments

 
Breaking Baseball News
or
Who's Your New York Daddy!

Several sources are reporting tha Pedro "Who's Your Daddy?" Martinez has signed a four-year deal with the Mets. Click here for the AP/Yahoo story. The point of contention apparently was the length of the deal. The Mets were willing to offer Martinez a four-year deal while the Sox would only go three. Now maybe this wasn't such a wise deal for the Mets, but it does send a message that they're willing to spend money to get a winning team. And it was bold, that's certain. Martinez may find that he does better in the NL, and the best part about it is the Mets-Yankee's matchups. Stay tuned.
- posted by Base10 @ 7:58 PM  0 comments

 
Willingham Lands on Feet

AP/Yahoo reports that former Notre Dame head coach Ty Willingham has signed up to be the head coach of the Washington Huskies. In a curious bit of evil big college football symmetry, the Irish play at the Huskies on Sept. 24, 2005.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:51 PM  0 comments

 
The Last Word on Kerik

"Bush Nominates Nanny to Replace Kerik" - Scrappleface.

UPDATE: Okay. Really the last shot at Bernie:

"Post-Kerik Withdrawal Syndrome May Cause Paralysis" - Scrappleface.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:38 PM  0 comments

 
More on Oil-for-Food-for-Bribes

Mort Zuckerman has an excellent editorial in US News today. He rightly concludes:

Kofi Annan cannot be held responsible for the activities of his son. He can, and should, be held responsible for the failures of the U.N. bureaucracy and for not having made a more diligent attempt to unearth and publicize what was going on, especially with regard to theactivities of Sevan and the Cotecna contract. Quiet mismanagement and grave negligence have put the U.N. under a moral cloud.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:41 AM  0 comments

 
No Joy in Mudville (Jets and Giants Edition)

To Base10, there is little joy in Mudville today. The Jets were trounced by the Steelers 17-6 yesterday. Oh, the humanity! Seriously, is it just me or were there an extraordinary number of hometown penalties against the Jets? Gang Green went into this game the least penalized team in the NFL, but drew a total of 12 flags some of which were very marginal in Base10's opinion. Did they all of a sudden forget how to play football? It was a good defensive game, with both teams shutting down each other's offensive production. Indeed, the Jets were in it up until the final three minutes when QB Chad Pennington threw an interception that ended a drive for a go ahead score. In any event, the Jets seem solidly in the wildcard hunt and barring a catastrophe will probably make it to the playoffs.

The same cannot be said for our crosstown cousins the New York Giants. The Giants were spanked by Baltimore 37-17. This from a Baltimore squad that can't seem to score two consecutive touchdowns. Even Eli Manning was taken out at one point to give Kurt Warner a scoring drive. This does not bode well for the Giants and their QB situation, stirring up new controversy. The Giants next face Pittsburgh also at the Meadowlands.

Last night's late game was also pretty good. The Redskins played the Eagles very tight but eventually lost 17-14. Tonight's Monday Night Collission is between Kansas City and Tennessee. Click here for a preview.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:59 AM  0 comments

 
The Case for Federal oversight of the Major Leagues

Senator John McCain, a rare politician for whom Base10 feels a great deal of respect, made a public statement that Congress should look into reported cases of steroid abuse on the part of Major League Baseball players. Click here for a news account. While not limited to baseball (click here for the most recent accusations in the seemingly endless doping claims against track star Marion Jones), steroid use in baseball is growing concern among fans. With stars like Jason Giambi admitting use and future Hall of Famer Barry Bonds making a ridiculous claim that he ingested steroids but had no idea what they were, fans are just about fed up with the situation. Base10 has himself advocated that steroid users be banned from baseball. An attempt at an internal fix is being ironed out between the Player's Association and MLB. Even the President has jumped on the bandwagon and called for "strong steps" toward reform.

Many conservatives however are uncomfortable with the idea of Federal oversight of Major League Baseball. A typical counter argument is found here by the excellent Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics.com where he argues that the free market will correct the situation by itself since it will cause the branding of Major League Baseball to be diminished and thus encourage players and owners to regulate themselves.

Base10 disagrees. But first let's get one thing out of the way. One of the justifications for regulation is the antitrust exemption that baseball enjoys. Click here for a good summary of its features. While the law is anomalous, the Supreme Court decided in 1922 that Major League Baseball did not constitute interstate commerce and thus did not fall within the scope of federal antitrust laws. The Court has consistently upheld this decision in the face of several challenges almost admitting its reasoning is little more than an effort to preserve tradition. The court has made clear that Congress can remove this exemption at any time. A removal of the exemption would affect the ability of teams to move from state to state and certain aspects of player's contracts and the draft. Some have argued, particularly John McCain, that this exemption itself is justification to regulate baseball. Base10 does not agree on those grounds.

Anyone with a minimum of training in economics knows the simple conclusion that if certain assumptions are made about a market for goods or services, the resulting equilibrium price that results from the interplay between buyer and seller is the optimal amount where everyone is better off. A price too high and there is a surplus, one too low results in a shortage. The measure of benefit--consumer and producer surplus--is maximized at the market equilibrium point. While this post is not meant to be a textbook in price theory, this is the starting point.

The efficiency of markets is premised on several assumptions. The realization of these assumptions can result in a market failure and a sub-optimal conditions. Some of these assumptions are (1) limited numbers of buyers/sellers with barriers to entry, (2) asymmetric information, (3) externalities, and (4) whether the good or service in question is a "public good."

Number (1) is the case of monopoly/monopsony and does not apply here by virtue of the antitrust exemption. Base10 cannot decide to start his own baseball team and play the Yankees. Isn't this what Sen. McCain is saying? Not exactly. Baseball is only a monopoly by virtue of its legal exemption which can be yanked. Indeed the nuclear option would be for Congress to do this and hope that an alternative league would sprout up that would be drug free (or the pressure from this possibility would force MLB reform). In any event there are other reasons to regulate.

(In the interest of completeness, number (4) does not apply either, although it makes for a good sound bite. Public goods constitute things like bridges, public parks, etc. The economic problem that surrounds them is the so-called free rider problem and the decision on how much the government should pay for these items).

How does this apply to baseball? Mr. Bevan's argument would go something like this. MLB's steroid policy up until now is too lax. It results in too many athletes using steroids. This has implications to the fans. Steroids are often illegal and could result in arrest and scandal. Also, baseball fans tend to be traditionalists who protest when records are broken by perceived "cheaters" on steroids. This results in a reduction of demand for the product of baseball. Owners and players, both of whom have a stake in this, make the steroid policy stricter, but not so strict that its cost to implement would be greater than the reduction in baseball profit by not implementing it.

Base10 believes the other market failures haunt the steroid issue. The problem of asymmetrical information occurs when either the buyer or the seller do not have perfect information about market conditions. A good example of a very efficient market is the stock market. Almost all publicly available information is available instantaneously to anyone interested. (And strict penalties apply to those who trade based on insider information not available to the public). This applies to the steroid situation in baseball like this: the consumer values performance either by individual achievement or by team accomplishments. The consumer is willing to pay to see these activities. The consumer however feels a great deal of ambivalence about what they feel are "false" successes involving drugs. Owners interests lie somewhere else. They want their players to perform, but don't want the scandal of being caught. The only person who actually has the information is the player. The fan cannot pick and chose which players or teams to watch (although many fans seem to think that steroid use among certain players is obvious). The fans are being cheated out of their preference because they can't distinguish the two products.

The other market failure that could justify government intervention is the presence of externalities. In short an externality is an additional value or cost associated with the consumption or production of a good or service. For example, a factory along a river might produce a valuable commodity but also adds some pollution to the river. The pollution can be cleaned or is tolerable in certain quantities, but the societal cost of the pollution is not a cost of production and thus is not factored into the price the market sets for the good. Like it or not, Baseball has many positive externalities. The American public views it as the "National Pastime." Parents use it as a vehicle for teaching their children the virtues of teamwork and good sportsmanship. A casual observer can see this every day during the summer in any one of thousands of Little League games. In addition, baseball is seen as the quintessential American sport and is a great source of national pride. A scandal in baseball is as embarrassing to Americans as a hockey scandal would be to Canadians. These arguments may seem sentimental, but millions of Americans agree with them and these same Americans part with a pretty penny every year. They do not want their children learning that it's okay to cheat and use drugs as long as you don't get caught (which seems to be MLB's position on the matter up until now).

In any event, Base10 thinks baseball must change. Whether it be through government intervention or through the eventual action of the free market (in which case Congress should act and repeal any antitrust exemption that now exists).

Tomorrow, Base10's arguments about game theory and how it encourages steroid use.
- posted by Base10 @ 8:39 AM  0 comments

 
Grey Lady Down

There's an interesting article at the American Enterprise Online with the catchy title "All the News That Fits Their Spin" By Chris Weinkopf. Weinkopf points out that the OBL tape released in the days before the election was relentlessly pro-Kerry but the mainstream media simply ignored this. Interesting.

- posted by Base10 @ 8:35 AM  0 comments

 
The Price of Appeasement

"Authorities Probe Fatal Philippine Bombing" - AP Wire.
- posted by Base10 @ 8:33 AM  0 comments

 

Base10 is testing Google's photoblogging partner Picassa and Hello. Base10 normally uses Flickr!, but Hello seems pretty good too. Picassa is a bit hard to use. Big complaint: You can't easily do a title, which is is easy in Flickr!
- posted by Base10 @ 2:27 PM  0 comments

 
Marine Chooses Wedding Ring Over Finger
An AP story describes a wounded Marinewho opted to keep his wedding ring rather that keep his finger.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:57 PM  0 comments

 
NFL Preview

Well, Sunday has rolled around again and Base10 is checking out the Giants game vs. Baltimore. Click here for the preview. Although the game is only in its tenth minute, the Giants have already turned the ball over twice three times. Base10 suspects that this will once again be a hard day to be a Giant fan.

Meanwhile, back at Pittsburgh, the Jets prepare to battle the Steelers. Click here for a preview. This is an important game for the Jets, and the two teams matchup pretty well. Unfortunately, the Jets are 0-5 at Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal... In a pretty dismal list of week 14 matchups, this game is clearly the marquis competition.

Congratulations to Matt Leinart, the USC QB on his deservingly being awarded the Heisman trophy.

In other NCAAF news, Vladosta St. beat Pittsburg St. 36-31 and won the Division II championship. Base10 would normally hope Pitt. State's professional cousins fare no better, but for NCAAF purposes, Pittsburg is located in Kansas.

Well, off to the games!
- posted by Base10 @ 1:46 PM  0 comments

 
The Final Boob Report

As the Sunday pundits dissect the abortive nomination of former Police Commissioner/boob Bernard Kerik to the Department of Homeland Security, Base10 is happy to know that he pegged Kerik as a boob first. It's funny how the national media now seems to resonate with the attitude that they knew it all along.

See this report from the Times. Best quote:

One Democratic Senate staff member, who has been following the nomination process closely and asked not to be identified because of the political sensitivity of the matter, said he was convinced that the nanny question was not the sole reason that Mr. Kerik had dropped out. "Multiple media organizations were pursuing multiple stories" that would be potentially damaging to Mr. Kerik, he said. Because many of these questions had not yet been answered by the administration, the staff member said, "fundamentally, he was a bad pick."

No kidding! And some of the reasons may be here.

The NY Daily News describes the nomination as "an act of monumental hubris."

Base10 thinks that should be the last word.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:45 AM  0 comments

 
More Good News from Afghanistan

"U.S. forces run marathon in Taliban stronghold" - Associated Press

- posted by Base10 @ 10:26 AM  0 comments

 
Stupid Soldier Tricks

"Drunken British soldier leaves party in suicide bomber costume; prompts alert" - Canadian Press

- posted by Base10 @ 10:13 AM  0 comments

 
More Proof

That white men can't dance!

- posted by Base10 @ 3:14 PM  0 comments

 
Today's Must Read, Part Deux

The always estimable Victor Davis Hanson has an excellent piece comparing Europe to the Ents of J.R.R. Tolkien. A sample:

Only now are Europeans discovering the disturbing nature of radical Islamic extremism, which thrives not on real grievance but on perceived hurts — and the appeasement of its purported oppressors. How odd that tens of millions of Muslims flocked to Europe for its material consumption, superior standard of living, and freedom and tolerance — and then chose not merely to remain in enclaves but to romanticize all the old pathologies that they had fled from in the first place. It is almost as if the killers in Amsterdam said, "I want your cell phones, unfettered Internet access, and free-spirited girls, but hate the very system that alone can create them all. So please let me stay here to destroy what I want."

Read the whole thing.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:56 PM  0 comments

 
Today's Must Read

This short piece by Ben Stein (yeah, that Ben Stein) in the American Spectator is very touching. The story of an inherited luger captured by his late father-in-law, Colonel Dale Denman, Jr., during WWII. Stein writes,

My brave father-in-law, representative of tens of millions of American men and women who have gone off to fight for freedom, fought against cruel, tenacious enemies. They often lost their lives in so doing. They prevailed and I get to live in spectacular freedom, glorious, bright freedom, every day because men like Col. Denman were as brave as they were.

I have relatives and friends who get out of bed every morning and do an hour of exercise to keep them fit. I don't do that. My exercise is that I get out of bed and hit my knees and thank God for waking up in America, where I live in peace and freedom, no Gestapo chasing me, no KGB putting me in the Gulag, no Hamas blowing me up. All thanks to men like Col. Denman and the heroism he showed capturing this Luger.

The author concludes that the only gifts he will be giving this season are those to the troops protecting us in Afghanistan and Iraq. Base10 thinks that's a great idea.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:43 PM  0 comments

 
Understatement of the Week

"Bush Says Social Security Faces 'Looming Danger'" - Reuters.

I'd say it's more like a truckload of explosives careening out of control towards a cliff, but that's just me.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:37 PM  0 comments

 
Life in the Habitrail, Part II

Base10 is at work today. Yes, on Saturday! Blogging will be light. If NCAAF is your thing, the Division I-AA semifinals are on as well as the Division II finals. Certainly worthy sporting activities, but not Base10's cup of tea. Of course, the Heisman Awards ceremony is at 8PM. Of historic interest is the fate of Jason White, Olklahoma QB who, if he wins tonight, would become only the second athlete to win the trophy twice. Does this mean he will get a double dose of the Heisman curse?
- posted by Base10 @ 9:44 AM  0 comments

 
No Kidding!

"Bush Unlikely Heisman Trophy Finalist" - AP Sports.

- posted by Base10 @ 9:40 AM  0 comments

 
Winning the War Against Boobery

Hoorah! Bernard Kerick, former Police Commissioner of our fair city, has withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Homeland Security. Perhaps we are not doomed afterall! Read about it here in AP/Yahoo. The ostendsible reason for his change of heart was the revelation that he may have hired an illegal immigrant nanny in the past. Base10 thinks otherwise, especially considering the rather unsavory revelations about Kerik's security service for the Saudi's.

The larger question, other than the fact that the American public is undoubtedly safer from terrorists at this moment, is how this affects Giuliani. Word was that Giuliani cashed in a big "chip" to secure Kerik's nomination. The White House is saying that they are completely surprised about the withdrawal. Obviously they can't admit that either they new about Kerik's questionable past or that he has not been completely vetted. It's more likely the latter. It makes Base10 wonder whether Giuliani is now in the doghouse for selling the President a false bill of goods.
- posted by Base10 @ 9:06 AM  0 comments

 
The War Against Boobery Continues

Base10 didn't blog on Wednesday and then took a counter-terrorism course on Thursday, which was interesting. Alas, today will be light as well since Base10 is working like a gerbil in a Habitrail today. Actually working at work? Base10 really must get his priorities straight!

Base10 will try to post later. There are quite a few more examples of boobery on the part of Homeland Security Secretary nominee Bernard Kerik. These certainly deserve some attention.

Also, Base10 is reading Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy and likes it very much. It is certainly deserving of greater comment, and the blogger in Base10 sees it to be chock full of good quotes about freedom and the war on terror. Of course, Base10 also made an impulse purchase while in the bookstore, picking up Nelson Demille's latest pot-boiler Night Fall.

More later if the Habitrail stops.
- posted by Base10 @ 2:43 PM  0 comments

 
Flashback: 1941

American's should remember a time not too long ago when a vicious enemy attacked US soil without provocation and took more that 2000 American lives in hopes of crippling this country and frightening it into submission. That time was not September 11th, 2001 but it was 63 years ago today at Pearl Harbor. Base10 salutes the men and women who perished in that attack and thaks the men and women who fought and died to avenge them and insure that this great nation would never be in thrall by tyrants and despots. There's a slide show over at Yahoo. All Americans should say a little prayer today for those brave souls.
- posted by Base10 @ 5:53 PM  0 comments

 
Another Brick in the Boob Wall

TheSmokingGun.com reports that the boob who has been nominated nominee for Homeland Security Secretary, former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik filed for bankruptcy protection way back when he was a Police Officer. While filing for bankruptcy does not make you a bad person, surely it might be a little relevent to your ability to manage the $38 billion budget of the second largest federal agency. But that's that's just my opinion.

Via Drudge.
- posted by Base10 @ 3:45 PM  0 comments

 
Today's Pet Peeve

It is raining in New York today, and Base10 unfortunately was caught in a bit of the downpour. Base10 supposes that the Democrats will somehow blame Bush for the rain. Then again if it was sunny, they'd claim Bush policies are causing global warming and are in fact causing it not to rain.

Anyway, Base10's pet peeve today the use of oversized golf umpbrellas by pedestrians on our fair city's streets. People, get a clue! This is a very congested city. You do not need an umbrella that covers an entire square block. Once more, you endanger the safety of others. Base10 nearly got his eye taken out by one of these monstrosities! New Yorkers, stick with a Totes, okay.

This daily pet peeve should not distract from Base10's Peeve of the Month: the nomination of Bernard Kerik to Homeland Security Secretary. Morons appointed to high office always trump a little rain and oversized umbrellas.
- posted by Base10 @ 2:41 PM  0 comments

 
Good News From Iraq

The New York Times reports that a leaked cable from the CIA station chief in Iraq paints a bleak picture about Iraq's politics, economy and security. Base10 thinks this is good news! Since the CIA has been wrong about every mayor political development in the 20th century (and those of the 21st as well), it is heartening to hear them say this. If we base our conclusion on the CIA's track record in such matters, victory, peace, prosperity and democracy are just around the corner. Base10 wonders if Porter Goss will have something very loud and angry to say to his subordinates about the leaking of this document.

Meanwhile, Arthur Chrenkoff over at the Opinion Journal, has a report (that's not secret and hasn't been leaked) about real good news in Iraq. I suggest the CIA read it.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:22 AM  1 comments

 
Tech News

Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about the effect of excessive computer use on learning. Contrary to popular wisdom, a high level of computer use is associated with a decrease in academic performance. Via Slashdot.

There's also this item about direct mind control of a computer cursor. Interesting. This technology has been used before, but to Base10's knowledge, it required electrodes to be implanted in the brain. This version uses an helmet.
- posted by Base10 @ 1:01 AM  0 comments

 
Media Bias Revisited

Robert J. Barro has an interesting piece in the Weekly Standard about a study done about at Yale about media bias. The study used proxy variables to give an ADA rating to various "think tanks" and then derive an ADA rating for media outlets that cite these institutions as sources. Base10 has read alot about this study. As a matter of fact, he wrote about it back in October. The main criticism of this study is its methodology. Base10 actually thinks this is a clever use of proxy variables to measure something that is otherwise unmeasurable.

BTW, if you would like to read the study, Base10's original link is now down, but he has updated his original post with a link to a copy over at FreeRepublic.org.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:52 PM  0 comments

 
More on the Homeland Security Boob

There's a good editorial in the LA Times (soul sucking registration req'd) comparing Bernard Kerik with his predecessor/successor Ray Kelly. The author writes,

Kerik may have campaigned hard for Bush, but Raymond W. Kelly, a former head of the Customs Service who is in his second run as New York's police commissioner, would have been a better choice. But then, Kelly, who has worked for Democrats, may be too independent-minded for this administration.

I think there are many other reasons to prefer Kelly over Kerik. Hmm. Let's see.

Kelly:

• St. John's Law School
• Masters Degree from Harvard.
  
• Rose up through the ranks.
  
• First go round as PC, crime starting to go down.
  
• Federal career in Haiti Police Mission, Immigration and Customs (?)
  
• Second go round as PC, continues startling crime reduction in spite of rapidly increasing attrition.

Kerik:

• GED
  
• Achieved the illustrious rank of Detective 3rd grade.
  
• Never passed a promotional test.
  
• Political hack with Giuliani campaign.
  
• Appointed Commissioner of Corrections, oversaw many scandals.
  
• Appointed PC, happened to e PC when 9/11 happened.
  
• Federal experience in Iraq an utter failure.

I'd say it's not much of a comparison. The LA Times editheads conclude:

Kerik will have to take on Republican leaders on these issues if he is to succeed, and fight the current, nonsensical anti-terrorism spending formulas that convert scarce security funds into political pork.

Kerik projects a tough-guy image, and his 9/11 credentials could give him added credibility to argue that more money needs to go to fortify actual targets. Currently, Wyoming gets seven times the per capita anti-terrorism funding of California. But Kerik, a Giuliani acolyte who was a relentless campaign attack dog for Bush, may simply give the administration cover to proceed on its present course. Even if he were inclined to make waves, his lack of experience at the federal level could prove a major handicap.

Kelly, on the other hand, would have brought a more bipartisan sensibility to the job, a wealth of federal experience and, for what it's worth, a more distinguished police record. But given that we are talking about someone charged with protecting the nation from terror attacks, we hope that Kerik proves us wrong, and that it turns out he was the ideal New York cop for the job.

Base10 wholeheartedly agrees.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:20 PM  0 comments