2002!
1. Athlete of the Year: Anika Sorenstam.
2. Upset of the Year: Norm Coleman over Walter Mondale in Minnesota.
3. Novel of the Year: The Lovely Bones.
4. Reporter of the Year: Mark Bowden.
5. Bloggers of the Year: Andrew Sullivan/Mickey Kaus.
6. Movie of the Year: Big Fat Greek Wedding.
7. Company of the Year: Toyota.
8. Customer Service Idea of the Year: In-Store Tech Support (Apple).
9. Technology of the Year: Wireless Fidelity (WiFi).
10. Politician of the Year: George W. Bush.
11. Magazine of the Year: The Economist.
12. Business Nightmare of the Year: "Price Discipline" (the inability to raise prices).
13. Airline of the Year: JetBlue.
14. Coffee of the Year: Dean and DeLuca's House Blend.
15. Dumbest Idea of the Year: Tiger Shouldn't Play The Masters.
16. Best Merger of the Year: HP-Compaq.
17. Best News of the Year: No new terror attacks on US soil.
18. Best New Magazine Idea: Fix. Kudos to Anne Kreamer.
19. Best Team of the Year: US Special Forces.
20. Best Administration Player: Paul Wolfowitz.
Happy New Year to all.
Murder Most Foul
The murder of three Americans in Yemen throws the recent remarks of Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) into stark relief. Here is what Sen. Murray said about a week ago today:
"Bin Laden's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health-care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven’t done that. How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"
All three of those murdered yesterday worked at a charity hospital in Jilba, Yemen. The hospital has been operated by the Southern Baptist Convention for 35 years. Hospital staff are not permitted to proselytize. Their work is to provide the people of Yemen with the best possible medical attention.
The three were shot in cold blood at point blank range. A fourth person was injured in the attack, but is expected to recover.
Ridley on Raelian Cloning
Matt Ridley, author of the excellent book Genome, has a strong piece about the implications of the birth of the baby girl known as Eve. Ridley argues that the Raelian cult will be to therapeutic cloning what Chernoybol was to nuclear power; a damaging and perhaps game-ending event.
VNS DOA?
Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times reports this morning that the television news networks are leaning toward pulling the plug on the Voter News Service (VNS). This is something that the nets should have done long ago but didn't (for all the usual stupid corporate reasons). VNS's performance on election night 2002 was even worse than its dreadful effort of 2000.
The question now is whether the Network Suits will (a) throw open the bidding to the widest possible vendor pool (IBM, MSFT, SUNW would all be strong bidders) or (b) continue to promulgate the old-boy CBS News Election Unit network. The answer will almost certainly be option "b."
New Year's Resolution
This year's resolution is to lose weight and get fit. Toward that end, I joined a local health club and will begin a regular weight training/elliptical machine regimen beginning tomorrow morning. On January 2nd, I will quit smoking for the remainder of the month (and then we'll see what happens from there). On January 3rd, I will begin posting my weight on the blog every morning. Presently, I weigh 229 pounds. The goal is to weigh 205 lbs by the opening of golf season (roughly April 10th). Stay tuned.
Iraq and the Arab World
Is the title of a longish piece by Fouad Ajami in the new issue of Foreign Affairs. It is well worth reading. Thanks to reader Barry K. for the URL.
The New Yorker's $1.2 Million "Profit."
I'm with Kaus on this. First of all, it's almost certainly not true. Second, isn't that what a magazine is supposed to do (turn a profit)?
The idea of throwing a party at which everyone is required to wear black because the magazine is "in the black" is silly. Does Microsoft have a party because they are profitable? Does People Magazine get down because they are in the black? Of course not. Profitability is a given or a near-term goal at any serious business institution. It enables things like benefits for employees and dividends for shareholders. Duh.
The more interesting question is this: Why are the folks at Conde Nast misrepresenting The New Yorker's financial position? Everyone assumes that it loses between $1 million and $2 million a month, as it has year after year since Conde Nast bought it from the Fleischmans. Why, in the midst of the worst ad recesssion that anyone can remember, is Conde Nast suddenly throwing "in the black" parties and insisting that The New Yorker is a money machine?
Santa Visits The Troops
The front page of the Westchester editition of The New York Times has a wonderful picture of Santa Claus visiting US troops in Kuwait. It's a reminder of the enormous sacrifice made by those who serve their country in uniform. God bless 'em.
Kill Them All
The Washington Post has a good year-end wrap-up story on the War on Terrorism in some of its parts. The more you think about asymmetric warfare, the more you realize how difficult and harrowing it has become.
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