The author of Squeaks from the Squirrel Cage writes:

I'M PROBABLY ONLY the thousandth guy to say this, but what if Boston faces Houston in the World Series? You can't make stuff like this up.

More. Do I have to spell this out? You know, with election day right around the corner.

- Squirrel


I have little to add here. But the contrast between old, cozy Fenway Park and the modern, ugly Houston Astrodome is also telling. Besides aesthetic differences, Fenway is a very distinctive hitter's park, whereas the Astrodome heavily favors the pitcher. They are among the most different parks in the game - and baseball parks play a tremendous role in shaping a team and its history. Sort of the geopolitics of baseball.

I am no longer a baseball fan. But much of how I understand the world comes from hours poring over baseball statistics and Bill James in the 1980s. But then there was a cancelled World Series and that was the end of it. I went on my own strike, for about a decade. Now, I get to a game or so a season and have no idea who any of the players are - I usually remember lots of trivia and statistics about the coaches who were players I remember.

But, just as there are ultra-secular Jews who's families have not been observant for generations but who still have an aversion to pork - as a Baltimore-native I maintain a residual hatred of the Yankees. So I was very pleased to see them go down last night, and having lived in Boston for several years, I shared some joy with the long-suffering Red Sox fans. It was great watching the game, knowing something had to go wrong - and then the profound relief when nothing did. The Sox were up 10-3 and still they changed pitchers to get the very last out - they weren't taking any risks.

I was thinking, that maybe the feeling I get when the Yankees lose is a tiny bit like the feeling America-haters got on 9/11. The labor leader John L. Lewis once said, "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for US Steel." They were the all-powerful bad guys and easy to hate. The rest of us rooted for various underdogs and lovable losers.

I don't want to take this analogy too far - but we are the Yankees of the international scene, easily dominant year in and year out at home and on the road. This is not new by the way - Japanese soldiers reportedly yelled, "F--- Babe Ruth" as they charged at Americans in World War II. Who was more American than Babe Ruth? A enormous man-child of gargantuan appetites and astounding talent who, without even trying, revolutionized the game. That's us.

Still there is a difference. The US really has, at least tried, to be a force for good and freedom in the world - with at least some success. Not the Yankees - they really are evil.

Koosai Muniasamy Veerappan, a notorious Indian bandit was killed by Indian Police late Monday night. Veerappan was wanted for the murder of over 100 people - both police and civilians. He had also killed hundreds of elephants for the illicit ivory trade. His criminal career lasted nearly 30 years. He survived through a combination of absolute cruelty, highly competent woodcraft, and buying the loyalty of villagers by sharing some of his ill-gotten wealth - earning him a reputation as India's Robin Hood. It also helped that he operated on the seam of two Indian states and took advantage of their difficulties cooperating.


Oh, and he had an amazing handlebar mustache - right from Central Casting.

He actually dabbled in show business a bit. He kidnapped a popular Bollywood star, Rajkumar, and held him for ransom in 2000. A few years earlier, while negotiating with the government he demanded a movie be made about his life (in fairness, his life would make quite a movie).

He had a hand in politics as well. Based in southern India, which is predominantly Tamil and has some sympathy for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, Veerappan worked with Tamil extremists and called for the release of pro-LTTE activists from jail. The Indian government has claimed that he received aid from the LTTE. While the Indian government sees the LTTE and or the ISI behind every rock - they are often right. The LTTE has a major sea-going arm and is involved in smuggling so it is plausible that they were linked in smuggling ivory and sandalwood.

But there is another terrorism angle that caught my attention. At a conference about future terrorist threats to the US, I half-jokingly asked what would happen if terrorists kidnapped a celebrity and we watched him beg for his life on the evening news for a few weeks. Obviously preventing another 9/11 is a much greater priority - but my scenario is not so far-fetched. If Veerappan can do it for money there is no reason that a more sophisticated, better financed terrorist group could not also pull it off as well. Remember terrorism is, first and foremost, a form of political theater - a means of getting attention.

Mayoral races rarely have an impact on geopolitics. But the news that Caracas mayor Alfredo Pena is dropping out of the mayoral race has implications beyond the streets of Venezuela's capital.

Pena has been one of the leading figures in the opposition to President Hugo Chavez' increasingly dictatorial rule. Pena states that Chavez is planning to perpetrate "massive state fraud" in order to eliminate Pena and the Caracas city government as an independent power base.

Chavez, riding high from his victory in the national referendum on his Presidency in August, postponed local elections until October 31. While the government claimed this was for "technical reasons" the opposition insists that the national referendum was subject to massive government fraud and was planning more of the same for the local elections.

At the same time, Chavez' ongoing attempts to undermine the Pena's authority lend credence to Pena's claims. During the long turbulent run-up to the referendum there was clashes in Caracas between pro-government and opposition supporters. Chavez tried to take control of the municipal police force in November 2002. A month later the Supreme Court ruled this move unconstitutional, but a month later the Venezuelan army partially disarmed the Caracas police.

If Venezuela slides into dictatorship there will be an impact beyond the oil-rich Latin American country. Chavez, who spouts anti-American rhetoric, has built close relations with Cuba and Iran (he also took a driving tour of Baghdad with Saddam Hussein a few years ago) and is a penpal of the notorious terrorist Carlos "the Jackal," appears to have ambitions beyond his country. He has used his oil revenue to prop up Fidel and fund revolutionary groups around Latin America (particularly Bolivia.) Also, Chavez is close to the narco-terrorist FARC in Columbia. FARC is one of the largest and best-financed terrorist groups in the world and they have targeted Americans in Columbia.

In short, if Chavez takes unrivalled control of Venezuela, he has the revenue and impetus to make big problems throughout the Western hemisphere. Pena's withdrawal from the political scene is an important step in that direction.

Now that the book is out, I am making regular media appearances (and selling well!). I am a ham and enjoy it a great deal. I was just on a syndicated radio show this morning broadcast out of Detroit. I’ve also been on shows around the country. It is a lot of fun and, on the whole, very flattering.

But the crown jewel is always getting on TV and I am pleased to have been a guest on “Lester Holt Live” on MSNBC. I was a talking head and I've used up about a third of my 15 minutes of fame.

Arriving at the studios, I was sent to the “Green Room” where, the carpet really is green. I was only there for a minute before being sent to make-up. I was assured that my suit and tie would be good on camera. Black, white, and strong stripes are not great on TV. But I was not sure about my tie (I had brought two spares!) But my wife made excellent sartorial decisions.

My face was covered with “stuff” and the lovely make-up women assured me I’d look fine (they really did a good job working with very little.) I was a little worried about my shoes – which I had not polished. The production assistant assured me that was not a problem, this would just be a headshot and if my shoes appeared on the screen, he would be fired.

I was led into a small dark room. Mr. Holt is based in New York and I was in Washington, DC. The room had a large window with a terrific view of the Capitol. Usually these backdrops are just pictures, but the studio has a primo Hill location. Fox and Univision are also based in the building. People have asked me if Lester Holt is nice – all I can say is: “I guess.” I did not really meet him. He was a disembodied voice coming into my ear, while I watched us on TV with a one-second time delay.

I was nervous, but I have some training as a performer, so it was not a big deal. We discussed the Taba bombings, Iraq, and I got in my plug for Hizbullah being the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization.

When it was over I cleaned off my face with an item familiar to any parent - diaper wipes.

When I got home, my wife told me I looked good – she was impressed that the make-up had hidden my permanent five o’clock shadow. My parents called to tell me that I was great and that all their friends thought I was great too. Watching on videotape, I thought I looked credible. It was a really nice high.

But oddly, it was not necessarily the highlight of the day. MSNBC sent a car to pick me up and I chatted with the driver. He was a warm and interesting man. When he learned that I had written a book, he confessed that he wanted to write a book of spiritual and love poetry. I encouraged him – but also assured him that writing was not the way to wealth. He told me about some of the celebrities he had chauffeured, tactfully declining to mention the names attached to less flattering anecdotes. When I told him I was going on “Lester Holt Live” he told me he knew Mr. Holt and that he was a terrific nice guy.

Although he said he had not finished high school, he knew scripture and could make a thoughtful and eloquent argument. We had lively discussions about family, faith, Iraq and a subject that particularly incensed him – preachers who profited too much from their ministry. By the time I got to the studio I was good and primed.

At the studio I asked the production assistant and the receptionist about the etiquette for tipping the driver. Both said that they did not know, no one had ever asked before, but that gratuity was probably included in the network’s bill.

Not sure about their answers I asked the driver and we talked about it on the way home. He assured me that it was not mandatory but was very, very welcome (he is a contractor who pays for his own gas) and that some well-known people occasionally tipped very well but sometimes not at all – it depended on their mood. I gave a modest tip – in proportion to my means.

The truth is, even though it was a real professional highlight, I was only on TV for five minutes whereas I spent about an hour and a half with the driver (thanks to traffic.)

By the way, the driver had phoned his daughter who watched me on MSNBC, she reported back to her dad that I did a good job. So did her dad!