The Fox and the Hound

Excellent commentary on priorities in the press.

Admiral William “Fox” Fallon resigned as head of CentCom on Tuesday, reportedly in protest over the President’s push for war with Iran.

As a politics-obsessed New Yorker, I love everything about the Spitzer Sex Scandal. He’s a “man of the people” spending more money for an hour of sex than most people pay for their second car. He’s been trying to collect New York State sales taxes from internet retailers, literally nickel and diming his constituents, while he patronizes mob-run blackmarkets. Most ironic of all, the same abuses of the Fourth Amendment he championed as a zealous crime-fighter now have been used against him to destroy his life and career. You just can’t get better value for your entertainment dollar than in New York politics.

Meanwhile, the guy in charge of everything from Mombasa to Ust Kamenogorsk, including Darfur, the Horn of Africa, Iran, Iraq, all the ’stans’ from Afghan to Uzbek, and everyone of Israel’s neighbors, the guy in charge of US military operations in the largest contiguous “hot zone” on the planet, well he just had a fight with the President and walked out. I’d like to know what’s up with that, but I keep getting distracted.

Also see: Fallon's Exit Provokes Concern on Bush's Iran Policy

Band names from The Wire

(Started by Clusterflock) As listed on that thread, my favorite is The Lawyerly Affectations. Also a big fan of Pawn Shop Unit.

Some of these might be better as song titles...

• Chain of Command
• Bubbles Depot
• Prop Joe
• Wallace and the Squatters
• Play or Get Played
• Bubbles and Bunk
• Shakima Griggs
• Tweedy Impertinence
• Cutty and the Mama Tappers
• WMD and the Pandemic
• Always Boris (for a Russian band)
• Snoop Loved That Nail Gun
• Omar and the Ayyyy-Ohhhhs
• Brother Mouzone and the Bow Ties
• Draft Dodging Peace Freaks
• Bodie and the Prairie Home Companions
• Wee-Bay Takes 'Em All
• Hauk and Carver

Quite possibly the best flow chart ever (via NY Times)

Making Book

Each bet on the 2008 Morning News Tournament of Books costs $10, and all the money bet will go to First Book, "a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books."

At the conclusion on the TMN 2008 Tournament of Books, we'll choose ten people at random who have backed the winning novel and send them each a huge prize package. Details on that to come, but don't worry it'll be worth it.

YOUR $10 = $90

We'll match up to $1000 worth of wagers and so will each of the super-cool companies listed below. Shouldn't your super-cool company be on this list? Write Michele Seiler and she'll hook you up. (michele@coudal.com)

The 2008 Morning News Tournament of Books

The Tournament of Books, we vowed, would be completely transparent. The names of the judges would be known to all, and the judges would admit to their own personal biases as well as their reasoning for every decision. The winner of this award wouldn't be any less arbitrary or any more legitimate than the winner of any other award, but the crowning of our arbitrary and illegitimate Best Book of the Year—the Champion Book of the Year, would be lots more fun.

And it has been, three years running, with David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, Ali Smith's The Accidental, and Cormac McCarthy's The Road taking top honors. As Smith noted in an email to the editors, "I am cock-a-hoop! I have NEVER won a prize of which I've been more delighted and proud. Thank you, TMN for this great, great honour."