Ever wonder how those Nigerian scams work?

Mary Baker at Dover Canyon (have I mentioned recently it's my favorite winery?) does too, and the matter got almost personal when someone attempted to entangle the winery in one of these scams. Read her fascinating account of it in the posts on her blog. Here's a taste:

First, the scamster orders wine from the winery or retailer. But there's a problem. He lives out of the country. He knows this is inconvenient for you, so he'll ask a shipping firm he's used before to pick up your wine, and take care of all the export documentation. All you need to do is charge his credit card for the sale and the shipper's fees, and then wire the transportation fees to the shipper, as they are not set up to take credit cards. How easy is that? Cha-ching, cha-ching.

Because the wine is being shipped overseas, the cost of shipping is high--maybe $200 a case. An order for 10 cases of wine would involve $2,000 in transport fees; a pallet of wine would be about $11,000.

Credit cards are the preferred method, because all the numbers are stolen. Sometimes they offer a money order instead. Few people know that although a bank may report that a money order has cleared and you have access to the funds, the order can still be voided.

There's a growing problem with credit card fraud, however, and that's the increasing use of Fraud Alert programs. Fraud Alert will trigger an alarm whenever there is 'unusual activity' on an account. To get around that, fraudsters will ask that you split the transaction between 4 or more cards.

The story's pretty gripping on its own -- especially when you learn who the "American contact" probably is. And the fact that the feds apparently had little interest in pursuing this attempted heist makes you wonder how serious they are about cracking down on fraud -- notwithstanding those bizarre PSAs about identity theft.

Peace on earth, goodwill to men ...



Or something close. We established detente and didn't even have to call in Kissinger!


Cara and I are having a lovely time trying to get the kids to all get along. Nano (the chihuahua) loves visiting and Freddy and Willow have accepted him about as well as we could expect.



Rani (the Persian), on the other hand, has had a tougher time. She's a cat, so that complicates matters. Also, Cara thinks she's about two years old, and she's very friendly and rambunctious. Sometimes too much for Willow and Freddy to handle.

This was Freddy's initial reaction to Rani's first visit ... and her second, at least for the first day:



The situation has improved dramatically, however. They're all giving each other room.
So from Nano and the rest of us, Merry Christmas to all! Happy Holidays!

Henderson fixes the BCS (again)

Well, they didn't listen to me four years ago (yikes, has that much time passed?). But since the powers that determine these things didn't act when they had the chance back then, I'll take another stab at it.

Version 2.0 of the plan is an eight-team playoff incorporating the existing BCS bowls -- Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta -- and three other games played in Atlanta, Jacksonville, and San Diego. (If you must, continue to call the games the Peach, Gator and Holiday. Whatever.) This way you have seven sites that are either indoors or in locations that aren't likely to be ruined by bad weather.

The pecking order of the games would rotate annually, so each city would host the national championship game once every seven years. The first round would be played on consecutive nights on or about Christmas weekend, with no games on Christmas Day. Most years, two games would be played on Saturday. In 2007, as an example, the first round would be played on Friday the 21st, Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd.

The winners would advance to the second round, played on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve if NYD is on a Sunday. (No conflicts with the NFL.) The championship game would be played at least five days after the semifinals on a Saturday or Sunday night.

The genius of this plan, Wile E., is that the six existing BCS conferences would continue to send their champions to the tournament. So the regular season would retain its importance. And I'd allow a Utah-rule concession to the non-BCS conferences. Like the current system, any non-BCS team that finishes the regular season in the top 12 automatically gets in. The trade-off is that the two at-large bids could come from the same conference, so one conference could place three teams in the playoffs. Depending on what happens this weekend, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma could all reach this year's playoffs.

The teams would be seeded, so #8 would play #1, etc. And the traditional conference/bowl pairings would be honored whenever possible. Seedings would trump traditional bowl pairings, however. So if USC wins the Pac 10 it might not play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl if, say, OSU were ranked #1; OSU would play the #8 team, whoever that was.

Here's how it would work this season (assuming no upsets this week -- yes, that's a major assumption): #1 Missouri would host Hawaii (currently ranked #12) in the Fiesta Bowl. #2 West Virginia would host USC (Pac 10 champs) in the Orange Bowl. #3 Ohio State would host Virginia Tech (ACC champs and #6) in the Rose Bowl. And LSU (SEC champs but #5 in the rankings) would host Georgia (#4) in the Sugar Bowl. Conference champions still get home field advantage, for what it's worth.

Next week, the winners would play in the semifinals -- for the sake of argument, in Atlanta and Jacksonville. Those winners would play for the non-mythical National Championship in San Diego on Sunday, Jan. 6.

So what's not to like? Teams would still play on New Year's Day, even if no playoff games are that day -- the Cotton Bowl and the Capital One Bowl would keep their dates.

OK, under this plan, #7 Kansas gets screwed by the Utah rule. And the pairings could change dramatically if we have an upset or two this weekend.

As they say, that's why they play the games.

Complicated enough for ya? Just think what would happen if West Virginia and Missouri lose on Saturday. Ohio State and Georgia -- a team that didn't win its conference title -- for the National Championship? Oh, the humanity.

Paso Robles Harvest Tour 2007

This was my first time traveling with the wonderful new lady in my life, Cara, so I focused on enjoying the company and the scenery. Unlike earlier years, I didn't try to cram as many tasting rooms as possible in each day. So we had a lovely time with friends Arthur and Judy on Saturday and Mike and Lisa (and their kids) on Sunday.

Readers of Mike's excellent Wine Commonsewer blog may recall that last year I ragged on Paso wineries for drinking the high-alcohol Kool-Aid (if that metaphor makes any sense) and for jacking up their prices. This year we found fewer alcohol bombs and the prices seem to have stabilized. Very enjoyable wines but few screaming bargains. With few exceptions, expect to pay $18 - $28 for good Paso wines.


New places we liked: Whalebone Vineyard. The BOB wines are excellent blends. And Bob makes a tasty steak slider.

Silver Horse, vines shown below. It's new to us -- they've been around for awhile, but it's the first time I've visited. Excellent Malbec. The Big Easy (mostly Temperanillo and Granache) is lovely.

Another place we'll keep an eye on is Sculpterra, which opened the day before we arrived and had only three of its nine wines available for tasting. I hope the wines live up to the surroundings, because the owners have placed an impressive and striking sculpture garden on the grounds. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it promises to be a destination site over time.


Here's Saturday's motley crew:


And Arthur and Judy. I think Arthur has a little Captain in him.
Of course we visited Dover Canyon, where the 2006 Cujo Zinfandel is outstanding. (No surprise there; I like everything Dan and Mary produce, and the Cujo, when they make it, is always a treat.)

Robert Hall again did fine work. Their Rhone de Robles Rhone blend was a hit, both at the tasting room and at dinner Sunday night. Less than $15 a bottle retail. Quite a buy.

Didn't visit Caparone, but I'm still a big fan and a wine club member. We had a 2003 Aglianico last night with baked catfish in a lemon garlic marinade. I decanted the wine (because the Caparones say you could cellar it for up to 25 years) and it was terrific. Plus, it's about $12 a bottle. Great stuff. They produce the best values in the area. Just be sure to let the wines open up before drinking.

And of course we checked out the elephant seals at San Simeon. After traveling to the Cambria/Paso Robles area at least once a year for nearly a decade, I didn't discover the seals until 2005. Now I can't get enough of them. Wonderful shot by Cara.



The weather was perfect, the company outstanding, and the wine delightful. What more could you want? Oh yeah, a few more days to enjoy the place.

GM, part two

Actually, this is more about the Braves' new GM, Frank Wren, who made waves within hours of the end of the World Series by trading SS Edgar Renteria to the Tigers for two prospects with a lot of upside, RHP Jair Jurrjens and OF Gorkys Hernandez.

As a Braves fan (since the late 60s) it's a fascinating move. The deal that brought Renteria to Atlanta was a classic John Schuerholz move -- swap a minor league stud prospect (Andy Marte) for a major league veteran who didn't work out for his current team (and even better, get the other team to pay part of the vet's salary!). Renteria played All Star caliber shortstop for two seasons and was by all accounts a terrific teammate. Andy Marte wound up in Cleveland where he's going from prospect to suspect. (This is also emblematic of Schuerholz's tenure -- he ate other GMs' lunch.)

Edgar is now in Detroit, where he will rejoin Jim Leyland, his manager from the 1997 World Champion Florida Marlins, and may well play against his Atlanta mates in another World Series. Detroit gives up a 21-y.o. pitcher who could be in the rotation next year and a dazzling young OF. It's a nice story for everyone. Before the trade, the Braves had three middle infielders, not two, and a big hole in the rotation and a need to cut salary. Problem solved?

The deal also marks a big departure from the SOP under Schuerholz's tenure. I can't remember JS ever trading a veteran exclusively for minor league prospects. He treated minor leaguers as either a) potential Braves or b) trade material to be packaged to other clubs for their veteran players. The last big trade Atlanta made for another team's top prospect was in 1987, Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz (also with the Tigers) and Bobby Cox was the GM.

I have no idea if this is an indication of Wren's preferences but even if it isn't, he certainly promises to be an unpredictable successor to "homeboy."

I like it, simply because it was such a surprising move. And considering the reaction of the Detroit faithful ("No! Not Jurrjens!") to the trade, in the long run the Braves may have scored again, big time.

GM for a day

I hopped on the Rockies bandwagon fairly late, but couldn't resist -- it's great to have a young and successful team in your hometown. And unlike many clubs that reach the World Series, the Rox roster is not filled with mid-career or aging veterans who will demand a lot more money for next year or leave. Even better, the team has depth at a number of positions (making trades possible to fill gaps) and prospects who may be major league ready next year.

So here's my advice to Dan O'Dowd: Choose the young players you keep wisely. Your future includes Holliday, Tulowitzski, Corpas, Morales, Jimenez. Lock up Holliday with a deal like the Mets paid to Jose Reyes and David Wright and buy out his first few years of free agency (OK, not quite that lucrative, but certainly generous).

Garrett Atkins, Willy Taveras and Brian Fuentes? Probably not. Those three will get higher salaries in arbitration but they can be replaced with guys you now have. In fact, they need to go now while their trade value is highest, coming off a World Series season. Atkins has pop in his bat and good hands but little range. Fuentes needs a change of scenery and always looked hittable to me (though he's a two-time All-Star). Taveras? He can bunt and steal and cover lots of ground in center field. But he walked 21 times this year. That's pathetic for a leadoff man.

Here's a nice summary of the season and potential personnel moves from today's Rocky. It also suggests what the potential free agents might expect from O'Dowd et al.

I say re-sign Kaz and Affeldt -- leave Kaz in the leadoff spot and make Affeldt your 8th inning guy. Give Ian Stewart the third base job. Ryan Spilborghs and Cory Sullivan performed well as a CF platoon when Taveras was hurt -- in fact, they were in the lineup during the amazing 21 for 22 stretch, not Willy -- and they would make a fine, low-priced, full-time alternative to the speedy but otherwise offensively worthless Taveras.

Oh yeah, and Aaron Cook's performance in Game 4 of the series means that the Rockies just found their #2 starter for next season. And he's available for $4.5 million, which is peanuts in today's market.

I look for the Dodgers and Padres to shake things up a lot this winter, and the DBacks will slip, but not much. Still, the Rockies are in great shape for '08, if the front office is smart.

UPDATE: I forgot Torrealba. Yes, re-sign him. He worked well with the young pitchers, played fine offensively, and will demand much less than any FA on the market.

Wine blogging

The co-proprietor of my favorite winery, Dover Canyon, earn a nice write-up in Business Week. Mary's blog has been on my roll for awhile, and it's always worth a look. Glad it's getting more notice.

Michael Vick should never play football again

Not in this country, anyway. At least not for money. (OK, I realize I haven't posted in more than a month. Time flies, etc., etc.)

If Roger "Mr. Clean" Goodell wants his get-tough rhetoric to be taken seriously, Vick needs to be banished for life.

Why? If Vick is innocent, or is guilty of no more than letting a bunch of unsavory dudes run a criminal enterprise on his property without his knowledge or consent, then he has to go to trial and fight the allegations with every weapon at his deep-pocketed disposal.

If instead he pleads, then he admits he participated in some way. And he's unworthy of ever playing a professional sport again. (Yes, I know he can join the WWE, but that's another story.)

Nobody, not even No. 7, has a right to be a professional athlete. Once he has sullied the game, he can be kicked out of the league. AFAIK there are morals and "best interests of the sport" provisions in the standard contract. So any admission of guilt in this case amounts to an admission that he violated the morals clause.

So he's out. Or he should be. And if he isn't, the NFL and whatever depraved owner signs him deserves all the derision it will get.

It's free, I tells ya ...

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is no Howard Roark, but he sure makes Michael Moore look like Ellsworth Toohey in this exchange on ... Larry King Live!

Hello!

A snippet:

GUPTA: No. Let me -- you would have to agree that people would walk away from your film with the perception that health care is free in Canada.

MOORE: Yes.

GUPTA: I mean you're a filmmaker.

MOORE: It is free.

GUPTA: You know how to do this sort of thing.

MOORE: It is free.

GUPTA: You pay for it through taxes --

MOORE: It is free.

Moore's not that dense. Nor is he delusional. He's just plain dishonest. In case you didn't know.

RIP



At 102. It's a wonderful life, indeed.