5 Thoughts for September 11, 2015

1. Do you remember the clusterf--- known as the Star Wars prequel? The big picture of the trio of movies, was that the galactic government and the separatist movement were both orchestrated by a mastermind, in order to eliminate the Jedi and create his new order. It seems to me that the Middle East is that same clusterf--- minus the mastermind. Russia, backing Syria, is moving personnel and equipment to support Syria's Bashar al-Assad under the guise of defeating ISIS and Al Qaeda, while the west is actively opposed to Russia's involvement, even as it provides lukewarm assistance to questionable Syrian rebels. Meanwhile at the border of Syria and Iraq, where Kurds have aligned with the west (since roughly 1990s) and attacked ISIS, our NATO partner Turkey is attacking the Kurds. And because Republicans are all over the map, on both sides of every issue in the ME, it's impossible to build support for any meaningful strategy in the ME. It does not matter what President Obama does, because at least half of the GOP will always be opposed to it.
2. A couple of months following my disgust that Best Buy carried just a handful of Chromebooks and none with touch screens I went back there this week and saw that they were carrying several Chromebooks with various screen sizes, and two of them with touch screens. Progress! It's funny though, when I bring someone to look at the Chromebooks, that they're unaware of what these devices are. On another BB note: In-store price for the Nexus Player is $75, but their online order / in-store pickup price is $70 -- how does that work exactly?
3. Is Android Pay, Google's answer to Apple Pay? Well that depends on whether or not you enjoy the limitations of Apple Pay. If so, then Android Pay is right up your alley. You see, Android Pay is the result of splitting up Google Wallet into two. If you, like me, enjoyed and extensively used the all-in-one capabilities of Google Wallet, you'll likely despise having to use two separate apps for what used to only require one. One step forward, two steps back.
4. Thursday was the first day of the NFL season. I had the game on, but I wasn't really watching it -- I had a hard time watching the Patriots after all that had happened. As if on cue, the Steelers had trouble with their headsets -- getting the Patriots signal instead of their own -- making it impossible to communicate between box and field. They filed a complaint (as if that would have an effect, considering it was NFL officials who controlled the system.) The NFL is starting to feel like a fixed league, don't you think?
5. The Netflix ordeal continues. After removing all of the DVDs in my queue that didn't have any waiting time associated with it, it turns out Netflix won't ship me any DVDs. I called to ask them to convince me why I shouldn't quit Netflix, and the guy apologized profusely, explaining that all of their DVDs are out right now -- I explained to him that they've obviously lowered the number of DVDs they buy, with demand far outstripping supply, and that there was an obvious solution: Get more DVDs. In the end there was no deal to be made except to get a 30-day trial of streaming, which is probably worse for them, because it's like taking me to an all-you-can-eat buffet, only to see me several plates of the most expensive items on the table. I will binge on your movies and because it's free, you will lose money on me. I've already gone through 3/4 of the House of Cards Season 3 on the first day. 

+5 Quick Links

1. GOP Senate filibustered; no Iran vote coming.
2. Carly gets invited to the grownup table...after the rules were bent.
3. Kam's definitely ruled out of Game 1 -- we all knew it was coming -- against Rams.
4. Seattle's Turbin, previously on IR, became free agent; signed with Cleveland.
5. US inflation remains low; if NAIRU then no Fed rate hike; if VSP then Fed rate hike.