10 Thoughts for October 28, 2014

1. Football: Apparently the NCAA is so scared about what actually happened behind their USC / Reggie Bush / Todd McNair investigation, that they might settle with Todd McNair to keep their files out of the public.  If you care to learn about just how corrupt the NCAA's COI was at the time of that investigation, you absolutely must read and follow USCFootball's Dan Weber.
2. Football: The Jets are in complete disarray.  So much so, that I decided to track the origins of their *current* downfall.  Rich Kotite was worse, but the Jets organization today resembles a Korean drama.
3. Politics / Economics: The Sam Brownback Tea Party Libertarian Capitalist test in Kansas has failed (and so has Walker's Wisconsin and Kasich's Ohio), but you wouldn't know it, because Republicans around the country are using the same theories to push for smaller government and lower taxes, in the midterm race.  If there ever could be a better narrative to use against Republicans, Kansas would be it.  But national Democrats seem deaf and blind to it.
4. Politics: Which brings me to the curious need of Sam Brownback's campaign to borrow money, repeatedly, from his lieutenant governor.  These local races have no restrictions in funding, so the "cash flow" excuse offered by Brownback's campaign rings hollow.  But let's say that it is a "cash flow" problem, then you have to wonder about the governor's ability to manage the state's finances.  Aha!
5. Politics: It's absolutely untrue, that Republicans hate wasting money.  What they hate, is not being the ones who get to direct how money is wasted.  Take for instance Kansas.  SoS Kris Kobach continues to defend wasting $35,000 on litigation that he lost, to force a Democrat to stay on the ballot, despite his request to be left off it.  $35,000 for a purely partisan play, and paid for by Kansas taxpayers.
6. Politics: If Democrats end up winning and controlling the Senate next week, do not be shocked.  I will explain more on this, if they in fact keep the Senate by losing just a couple of seats.  You see, I find it amusing that Republicans are already gloating about their predicted win of the Senate, and I'd love nothing more than to take these people down a few notches.
7. Technology: It seems that Android Lollipop's camera software supports shooting RAW, so that one can save files in Adobe's DNG format (with the right app), instead of being stuck with JPG.  If you use Photoshop, then you know what the benefits are.
8. Global: So, it seems that ISIS is starting to lose the war, but the media hasn't bothered to cover it.  They're stuck on whether or not Kobane is in ISIS' control, which, typical of the media, fails to view the rest of battles around Iraq.
9. Space: The video making the rounds everywhere, is the failed launch of Orbital Sciences' Antares unmanned rocket, at NASA, in a bid to deliver supplies and experiments to the ISS.  ORB stock is down 15% after hours.  If SpaceX were public, I'm sure their stock would have skyrocketed.
10. Police: I had to laugh, to think that police anywhere in the US actually believed that their use of excessive force was protected by the US Constitution.  And yet in Seattle, 125 police officers filed a lawsuit making such claims.  Talk about absurdities.