Educate Yourself

Week in Review
For the week 2/13/2006 - 2/17/2006
Brian Trumbore
President/Editor, StocksandNews.com

The mullahs in Iran told the world they have resumed uranium enrichment (I would submit they never stopped) and have stated they would not cooperate with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. Surveillance cameras are being removed as a first step. The next important date is March 6, the IAEA's final report on Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice: "It's not just Iran's nuclear program but also their support for terrorism around the world. They are, in effect, the central banker for terrorism."

French Foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy: "No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear program. The international community has sent a very firm message by saying to the Iranians: 'Come back to reason. Suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment of uranium and the conversion of uranium.' They are not listening to us."

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani: "I suggest that Mr. Douste-Blazy use a diplomatic tone and avoid increasing the tension."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang: "It's extremely important for the international community to uphold the consensus on resolving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic measures."

Russia's chief of general staff, General Yuri Baluyevsky, warned the U.S. not to attack Iran. "It is hard to predict how the Muslim world will respond to the use of force against Iran."

For its part Iran also indefinitely postponed negotiations with Russia on enriching uranium there. China said if negotiations resumed, however, they want to be part of them. Terrific.

"I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle. Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."

"In some European countries and in America, insulting Prophet Muhammad is acceptable," Ahmadinejad said. "But questioning the Holocaust and formation of the Zionist regime is a crime. This is a myth with which the Zionists have blackmailed other countries and carried out their crimes for 60 years in the occupied territories?.

"The real Holocaust is happening in Palestine where the Zionists are killing Palestinians. If you are looking for the crimes of Holocaust, find them in Iraq."

A poll for USA Today / Gallup / CNN shows that 8 of 10 Americans believe Iran would supply a nuclear weapon to terrorists to use against the U.S. or Israel.

Israel and the United States are also furious these days with Russia for agreeing to meet with Hamas in Moscow. And the aforementioned General Baluyevsky said Russia would be willing to sell weapons to Hamas.

So we sit back and wonder why Russian President Vladimir Putin won't meet with Chechen rebels, but will meet with Hamas, a group that has carried out 60 suicide bombings against Israel since 2000.

Will Putin, though, demand Hamas recognize Israel and in the process reclaim Russia's influence in the region, which it lost following the collapse of the Soviet Union? Putin has said in the past few days, "We need to recognize that Hamas has come to power as a result of a legitimate election and we need to respect the will of the Palestinian people." [London Times]

But to then offer Hamas military hardware in return for recognition?! Wouldn't be the first time Russia armed terrorists. [See Iran and Syria.]

As for Hamas itself, there are stories that the organization is in the process of amending its charter, but there is no way any changes would be acceptable to the membership unless the revised document maintained its call for Israel's destruction. So the best one can hope for is a continuation of the existing cease- fire. The Palestinians new Hamas-dominated parliament is being sworn in on Saturday.

Meanwhile, over in Iraq, after two months of stalemate following the parliamentary election the new government is taking shape. For starters, the ineffective Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari will continue in his leadership position, thanks to the support of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the same figure who has fought U.S. forces twice and recently went to Tehran to pledge his fealty.

As for the Kurds and Sunnis, the Kurds are miffed the secular Shiite party of Iyad Allawi isn't in the mix, while the Sunnis are brooding?and that spells trouble.

Throw in the fact the Shia military and intelligence operations have death squads targeting Sunnis, and that oil production is off by a third from post-invasion peak levels, and that the reconstruction overall has been a disaster, unless you scooped up some loose greenbacks for partying in Dubai, and it's your basic mess.

But wait, there's more! A video emerged showing British soldiers beating Iraqi teenagers, new photos from Abu Ghraib surfaced that are being distributed in DVD format, no doubt, and our friends at the UN issued a scathing report on Guantanamo without personally visiting the place. Oh, and Saddam is still alive, making a mockery of his trial while his key aides refuse to cooperate with the prosecution.

Mr. Smooth, new Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, had his coming out party this week as he appeared before both the House and Senate for an update on the economy. Of course this semi-annual exercise is but another reminder of why a senator is a senator, and a congressman a congressman. Let's just say more often than not one sounds like a college graduate, while the other comes off as a subscriber to People. But I digress.

Bernanke is good?real good. And we can understand what he's saying, a gift that eluded his predecessor.

So what did he say? The economy is strong, Bernanke is not concerned about an inverted yield curve, he is going to focus on the hard economic data, perhaps more so than Alan Greenspan, but one of his primary concerns is housing; that and the potential for inflation to seep through the price chain as it has been in some sectors.

Which means one thing. Bernanke is going to be hiking rates, and possibly far more than yours truly thought possible last December.

That won't be good because there is no doubt the Fed is going to overshoot. I would still submit that with the lag effect of past rate hikes it already has.

Inflation hawks may have their day, but it will be brief and I have never been more convinced than I am now that the U.S. economy will flip on a dime, seize up, at some point in the second half of the year.

Housing, of course, will be a major cause of this reversal and you can throw out the January housing start numbers that showed explosive growth in the sector. Heck, even I felt like building a house this past month with temperatures in the 50s here in the New York area. And it would appear many builders just told their guys to throw stuff up, quickly, before more normal weather set in.

[As luck would have it, we got 20+ inches of snow last weekend but by Thursday it was gone?thanks to a resumption of the heatwave.]

What amazes me is this leap of faith among the majority on Wall Street, at least for this past week, that higher rates are no problem, particularly when one looks at the mortgage sector.

Jonathan Laing of Barron's had a terrific piece in the 2/13 edition on the "sub-prime" market. These are the folks who should probably be renting until they build up a little more capital but the lending institutions take the risk, at future cost to the homeowner.

For example, 10% of today's mortgage debt is in sub-prime loans that are in the process of resetting. As Laing illustrates, their monthly payments could rise 50%, easily, over the next two years due to the steep escalation in short-term interest rates.

Of even more concern is that if home values just stagnate, let alone go down, these same homeowners will no longer be able to tap into their equity in order to meet the much higher mortgage payments.

But back to the January housing data specifically, yes, I've always said never put too much stock in one month when it comes to this arena, but at the same time I've said we've now entered a period in housing where it's three steps down for every one up. Housing has peaked. The question is do values now fall. I'll go with stagnation until the economy begins to roll over, then it gets dicey.

One last note on this issue. While some were bamboozled by the January data, I chose instead to focus on a statement out of Washington Mutual, a leading loan originator. They were laying off 2,500.

Outside of housing there was good news, like in the case of retail sales for January, up much bigger than expected, but here, too, the consumer had no problem hitting the malls in such balmy conditions.

Oil provided a big lift as crude, over $65 just two weeks ago, hit $57 before bounding back up to the $60 level on Friday over fresh concerns on the geopolitical front, including an unsettled picture in Nigeria, a major oil exporter.

Inventories of all things crude and gaseous are plentiful, but you can't just wish away the risk premium. Sure, oil is where it is in some part because of speculation, but until you can point to a resolution of some of the hot spots, you're not going to see $40 oil. [T. Boone Pickens reiterated this week you won't see $50 oil again, ever. I wouldn't go that far. I do have my depression scenario, after all. It's always in the ol' back pocket.]

Bottom line, at the end of the day oil is still about supply and demand. Currently, supplies are ample, but so is demand and on that end China is expecting a rise of close to 6% this year and as I mentioned before, all those drillers being employed for new finds continue to come up largely empty. But those are good, high-paying jobs, as our president would say.

All in all, though, except for Harry Whittington and the vice president it was a pretty good week. Hope you enjoyed it. Beware the Ides of March.

--The Dow Jones and S&P 500 excelled, up 1.8 and 1.6 percent, respectively, with the Dow closing over 11000 (11115). Nasdaq rose 0.9% to 2282.

Hewlett-Packard's earnings received a good reception as the company's comeback is complete, but Dell's numbers weren't given two thumbs up as it gave a less than rosy scenario for the current quarter.

But here's a perfect illustration of how screwed up Wall Street can be. When asked if Hewlett-Packard was winning market share, Dell CEO Kevin Rollins replied: "They grew 5.6% year- over-year on revenue. We just delivered 13%...We intend to grow and take share." [USA Today]

It's all about the expectations game and massaging analysts who then massage the rest of us. In this respect it's just like the days of the tech bubble. Rollins has a great point, but no one cares.

Rates dropped slightly on the week, despite Bernanke's clearly hawkish tone and a producer price index that was twice that expected (up 0.4%, ex-food and energy). The Fed next meets to raise rates on March 27-28.

--Bird flu is spreading across Europe and the H5N1 strain has now been detected in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Turkey and France. [France is testing ?but is expected to confirm the conclusion of initial reports.]

--Japan's economy grew at a whopping 5.5% annual rate in the 4th quarter, propelled by soaring car exports and solid consumer spending.

[Foreigners have recently been net sellers in the Tokyo stock market, after being a huge contributor to the rally that saw the Nikkei soar over 40%. And talk about a casino, which is what the Nikkei has become, the index is moving 1-2% on a daily basis.]

--Toyota Motor Corp.'s market value climbed above $200 billion on Friday, more than Wal-Mart and the 9th most valuable company in the world. Shares in Toyota are up roughly 60% in less than a year.

--With soaring copper prices, thanks to demand from both China and investment funds, Chile's copper exports jumped 39% in January, year over year. Copper is the mainstay of the economy here and accounts for 43 percent of total exports. That's a lot of mining going on?and a lot of environmental issues as I've been reading.

--Argentina's economy grew at a 9.1 percent rate in 2005, the fastest pace in 13 years and on top of growth of 9 and 8.8 percent for the prior two; this after the nation's depression. But inflation is rising as well at about a 12-12.5 percent annualized rate.

--Chevron's Vice Chairman Peter Robertson told a Saudi audience in Jeddah that contrary to President Bush's State of the Union address, "This notion of being energy independent is completely unreasonable. I don't think anyone actually believes that the U.S. can end its dependence on oil in the Middle East at all?.Saudi Arabia's massive resources will continue to promote international energy security and serve as a moderating force in balancing supply and demand." [Daily Star] Of course Chevron has its own self interests here.

--G-8 finance ministers met last weekend and urged Gazprom to give up its monopoly on natural gas exports. Gazprom's reply? "Nyet," they won't hand over access to their pipelines. And so, sports fans, the issue of energy security continues to roil the continent.

--Canada's energy giant Encana noted in its earnings release: "The inflationary pressures of 2005 are expected to continue this year with cost inflation once again above 15 percent. Given these circumstances, Encana has decided to reduce drilling in areas where costs have increased the most, resulting in a $500 million reduction in its previously-announced 2006 upstream capital investment forecast." [Pritchard Capital Partners]

--Brad K., who owns a company that manufactures steel panel swimming pools, is seeing large price increases across the board.

--The Bush administration can either extend the tax cuts or work out a fix for the alternative minimum tax. It can't have both in the current environment and to abolish the AMT would result in a projected loss of $1 trillion in revenue over ten years.

--Congress called officials from Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Google to explain their relationship with the Chinese government in doing business over there.

"Your abhorrent actions in China are a disgrace," said Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA). "I simply don't understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night."

A senior vice president and general counsel for Yahoo said the company was "very distressed" at having to comply with Chinese law.

Google's vice president of global communications said Google's decision to censor its Chinese search engine was "not something we did enthusiastically or something we're proud of at all?We have begun a path that we believe will ultimately benefit our user in China."

Republican Representative Jim Leach of Iowa said Google seemingly acted "as a functionary of the Chinese government? This is astonishing." [South China Morning Post / AP]

Earlier, Yahoo's Michael Callahan told the Financial Times, "This is everyone's dilemma: operate in a country and comply with laws that lack transparency, or withdraw. No one company, no one industry can tackle this on its own."

Of course much of the above from the search engines is total garbage, but to top it off, China, under the gun itself, sent out its deputy chief of the Internet Affairs Bureau to say that the West's criticisms smacked of "double standards."

"It is unfair?when (foreigners) criticize China for deleting illegal and harmful messages, while it is legal for U.S. websites to do so."

But then he said no website in China has been shut down for providing a few pieces of harmful information, adding, "No one in China has been arrested simply because he or she said something on the Internet." [South China Morning Post / Agence France-Presse]

--Meanwhile, back in Google land, Barron's Jacqueline Doherty wrote a scathing article on how the shares, even after a substantial fall from the highs, could tumble another 50% using various financial metrics.

But Ms. Doherty had some musings on my favorite topic, click fraud and the advertising industry. Quoting an analyst:

"In some cases, pure-play Internet companies have shifted advertising to TV, newspapers and branded alternatives on the Internet, at just the same time that traditional offline media buyers are heading to the Internet in droves. One industry executive noted that the lifetime value of a customer acquired through Google for his/her business had approached zero."

"In other words, just as the smart money is pulling out of search advertising, the dumb money is flowing in. But it's probably only a matter of time before everyone figures out the economics involved."

"Before search advertising can take hold for the long term, it must candidly face up to click fraud. Each time an Internet user clicks on an advertisement, the advertiser pays Google. But as with any booming industry, an underworld has sprung up: individuals and large, organized 'click farms' have started firing off barrages of clicks, around the clock?.

"Click fraud is something that everyone in the industry knows is out there. By some estimates, up to 25% of all clicks are fraudulent. But companies in the search-advertising business won't quantify how the fraud affects them. Not Google, not Yahoo!, not eBay, which is believed to be the largest search advertiser on the Net."

Google, of course, denies this is a big issue. A spokeswoman told Barron's: "Our expert teams and technology filter out certain invalid clicks before they even reach the advertisers' bills. When we become aware that customers have been charged for invalid clicks, we work to refund advertisers as quickly as possible."

Friends, that's a bunch of bull. I won't bore you with the details, but I've seen how search engines (not Google or Yahoo) that I've used, before I shut down my online advertising, would send me a note saying they "captured" some fraudulent clicks. Try about one dollar's worth. Yes, a dollar. But the gullible think, "Oh, wow, these guys are really on the ball." It's nothing but a ploy.

As for Google's share price, now $368 and off the high of $475, I've long argued it's too tough to short because it's been off in a world of its own. I stand by that statement, but congratulations if you picked the top and covered $100 later.

--NBC says it's going to turn a solid profit on the Olympic Games, but I've got to believe they are having serious thoughts about locking up the broadcast rights through 2012.

--Merrill Lynch made a terrific move in acquiring a 49.8% stake in BlackRock, a quality money manager. Merrill is handing over its fund assets to BlackRock and the combined entity will now have about $1 trillion to play with. As Al Pacino said in "Scarface," "The only problem I have?." [Oops, better not go there.] Separately, PNC, which had owned 70% of BlackRock (now 34% as new shares were issued to complete the transaction) is another big winner, announcing it will record an aftertax gain of $1.6 billion.

[Merrill Lynch also announced a settlement with 23 investor lawsuits over whether it issued misleading research on Internet companies. Henry Blodget and his cohorts cost Merrill another $164 million in this instance.]

--The Senate by a 58-41 margin voted down an asbestos bill that would have established a $140 billion compensation fund and finally given affected businesses a bit of a break after years of uncertainty on all fronts. But it wasn't to be.

--Lucent shareholders, led by its retirees, voted to restrict executive pay. If I'm reading it right, 75% of executive stock grants will now be dependent on the telecom-equipment maker's performance. This was spurred by a combination of continually reduced retiree benefits at the same time CEO Patricia Russo was taking in some $60 million over four years.

--Merck won a major victory in court on Friday as the drug maker was cleared by a federal jury of any responsibility in the death of a Florida man who had a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx?the second such win for Merck.

--Sirius Satellite Radio announced its loss widened to $311 million in the 4th quarter on higher costs to acquire subscribers. Earlier in the week, competitor XM Satellite Radio reported similar losses and shares in both tanked.

--RadioShack announced it is closing up to 700 stores following a disappointing Christmas season. Most of the retail outlets I've been to are a mess?kind of like the way many Wal-Marts are now looking. But RadioShack also has to deal with a lying CEO, David Edmondson, who it just came to light falsified his academic credentials. Edmondson apologized but is likely to be dismissed.

--Carl Icahn ended his bid to upend the board at Time Warner for the purposes of splitting the company up. Instead, he will have some say over two new board members. Geezuz, this story bored me to tears. But kudos to Time Warner publication Sports Illustrated for another job well done on the swimsuit issue.

--According to Business Travel International, Moscow now has the highest average corporate room rate in the world at $305. New York is next at $281, while Bangalore surprisingly takes the bronze at $271.

Afghanistan: The death of four U.S. soldiers here in an attack on a convoy helps crystallize how far we have to go in pacifying the entire country and the mission is not going to be accomplished without extensive NATO support. The U.S. death toll in the forgotten war is now at least 209.

Pakistan: The violent cartoon protests in Pakistan are particularly disconcerting for one reason; President Musharraf's enemies will hijack the issue for the purpose of mounting a campaign to take him down.

Lebanon: A week ago, about 800,000 supporters of Hizbullah rallied in Beirut and this week, to mark the one year anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a similar amount showed up as a sign of loyalty to Hariri and the forces of good that seek to oust Syria's lackey, President Emile Lahoud. But the contrast between the two gatherings couldn't have been more stark in spelling out the differences that threaten to engulf Lebanon in a new civil war, one that Druze leader Walid Jumblatt observed could "last quite a long time. This is the tragic destiny of Lebanon."

But Jumblatt, emerging from hiding as did Hariri's son Saad, proclaimed to the throng:

"There is no real independence as long as the pro-Syrian symbol of betrayal is residing in (the presidential palace). We tell him, the terrorist Bashar (Assad) brought you to power, and the loyal Lebanese people will throw you out.

"We came here to say there is no real independence and no real sovereignty when the jurisdiction of the army and the state stop at the borders of the southern suburbs and the refugee camps and the South." [Referring to Hizbullah's presence.]

Saad Hariri, who like Jumblatt is under constant threat of assassination himself, told the crowd:

"There are no Muslims and there are no Christians, there are only Lebanese screaming 'Lebanon first.'"

As for President Lahoud, his office issued a statement accusing Jumblatt of launching a "direct threat to kill the president" and that Lahoud is determined to carry out his term which expires Nov. 2007. To remove him requires 85 votes in Parliament and the March 14 forces, as they call themselves, are only at 71 at this point.

Egypt: In a huge blow to the Bush administration's democracy efforts, even if in a twisted way, President Hosni Mubarak has canceled local elections, originally slated for April, for two years. The Muslim Brotherhood, which would have benefited from the vote, is up in arms, while the White House is in a box. Just as in the case of the Palestinian vote, democracy often carries unintended consequences, and the dictator Mubarak can claim that he is only preventing militants from making further gains.

Malaysia: Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is a "moderate" and an Islamic scholar. In my ongoing attempt to present some of the more important missives from the Islamic world, I posted a full speech of his from last week on my "Hott Spotts" link.

Speaking at the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Badawi blasted the "demonization of Islam" in the West.

"The West should treat Islam the way it wants Islam to treat the West and vice versa. They should accept one another as equals?

"Many in the West see Islam as synonymous with violence. The Muslim is viewed as a congenital terrorist. They think Osama bin Laden speaks for the religion and its followers. Islam and Muslims are linked to all that is negative and backward."

But he admitted the "senseless violence" committed by extremists had made things worse between the Muslim world and the West.

"I hold the strong view that in the case of Islam, those who deliberately kill non-combatants and the innocent; those who oppress and exploit others; those who are corrupt and greedy; those who are chauvinistic and communal, do not speak on behalf of Islam."

Badawi also called on Muslims to oppose "the sweeping denunciations of Christians, Jews and the West as well as violence perpetrated by certain fringe groups," adding, "In the face of fanaticism and hysteria, we must take action to counsel moderation and rationality." [IslamOnline.net]

Turkey: I always thought Turkey's bid for European Union membership would be derailed by anti-Islamist forces in the EU, and that may still prove to be the case. But the issue of Cyprus could do so beforehand. Defense News reports that Turkey has proposed a simultaneous "lifting of all embargoes on Cyprus' Greek and Turkish sectors, along with a fresh UN initiative for reunification talks," which is welcomed by the United States and Britain but rejected by the Greek Cypriot government.

The problem is Turkey, which sent its troops onto the island in 1974, still refuses to recognize the Greek Cypriot government, which itself became a full EU member in 2004. And Turkey is saying that if it opens its ports and airports to the Greek Cypriots it would amount to diplomatic recognition of them as Cyprus' sole legitimate government, "which in turn effectively (means) a formal admission that Turkey's occupation of northern Cyprus violates Cyprus' territorial integrity."

Turkey's stubborn refusal to recognize the Greek Cypriots could easily cost them their bid.

Iraq: Just two items in addition to the opening comments. Karl Zinsmeister is the conservative editor in chief for The American Enterprise. In the March issue, he writes a generally glowing report on U.S. progress in the war in Iraq and I will readily admit on this one I'm cherry-picking because he also wrote.

"Americans in Iraq have seen the dereliction of duty that results in Iraqi police chiefs stealing body armor and weapons from their own men to resell for personal profit on the black market. They have seen the selfishness that causes Iraqis to argue against the extension of sewer and water pipes to their neighbors, because that might slow the satisfaction of their own wants. They have endured a level of dishonesty which makes it impossible to take the word of almost any local. Iraqis lie easily to Americans, but they also lie habitually to each other, because that is an accepted way of gaining advantage in their dog-eat-dog world."

Separately, as part of the ongoing cost of the wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is asking for $9 billion to "reset" war-depleted stocks; to repair and replace tanks, helicopters and vehicles. For example, since 2003 the Army's combat losses in Iraq include about 20 M1 Abrams tanks, 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, 20 M113 armored personnel carriers and 250 Humvees, plus hundreds of heavy and medium trucks and trailers. Aircraft losses, including in Afghanistan, total about 85 helicopters. [Defense News]

China: 13 Chinese academics and editors have written President Hu Jintao with regards to the demotion of two editors at a popular weekly that was reinstated by authorities after it had been closed five weeks. In the open letter, the group described the closure and demotions as "illegal, unwise, depriving citizens of their most fundamental right to free speech and constitutional right to press freedom." [Reuters] This took guts.

Britain: We almost lost Prime Minister Tony Blair the other day. As his plane was roaring down a runway in South Africa, there was a loud bang as an engine blew out. The pilots were able to abort takeoff at the last second. But the issue has become his transportation. You see, in Britain there is no such thing as Blairforce One. Instead, so as not to appear to be spending the public's money on lavish jets, Blair (as was the case with leaders before him) was using a 36-year-old DC-8, with engines that were 16-years-old.

Chile: Follow-up on last May's tragic accident in the Andes, where 44 conscripts died in a blizzard because of improper clothing. A court found five officers guilty but only one will serve any prison time, five years for manslaughter. The families of the victims are furious.

Venezuela: Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice accused Venezuela's Hugo Chavez of leading a "Latin brand of populism that has taken countries down the drain." Rice added that Venezuela's relationship with Cuba is "particularly dangerous." President Chavez called Rice's remarks "crazy."

Dow Jones +1.8% [11115]
S&P 500 +1.6% [1287]
S&P MidCap +1.2%
Russell 2000 +1.9%
Nasdaq +0.9% [2282]

This week marks 7 years for StocksandNews, a feat I'm most proud of. In fact I still have missed just one "Week in Review" over that time?though I vow to take another off at some point this year.

Coupled with the other articles I do, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I walked away from my cushy job on Wall Street back in Feb. 1999. And it was only supposed to be for three years.

Well, I can tell you now, unequivocally, that I'm going to be doing this for a long time to come. Ten years is a lock, for starters.

So that means I'll continue to build the single best history of the world for these tumultuous times, and in all sincerity that's what keeps me going.

I saved a blurb from The Weekly Standard, written by William Kristol, upon their 10 year anniversary last year for my own occasion because it describes StocksandNews to a certain extent.

"Early on, back in the 'Permanent Offense' days, I remember lamenting aloud at an editorial meeting that there was one article in the otherwise terrific issue we'd shortly be printing that was okay, but wasn't really at the highest level of quality. Fred Barnes immediately set me straight about this. Perhaps it wasn't the best imaginable piece of writing, Fred said of the essay in question. But the best imaginable piece of writing, in this case, did not exist, he pointed out. And the piece we had in hand, by contrast, possessed what Fred considered among the most important journalistic qualities: 'the quality of doneness.'"

And a special thanks to our contributors, my brother Harry and Dr. Bortrum (who once a year I get to say also passes for my father). And to Roj and the gang at Web Epoch, I appreciate your hard work in keeping this site running as smoothly as it has.

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