Thursday Headlines

Split Senate Panel Approves Giving Obama Limited Authority on Syria.
Despite this, what I read yesterday is that Sen. McCain (finally) pointed out that the President's plan, as it's currently consituted, doesn't actually accomplish very much.  He therefore threatened to pull his support, which is interesting, because if he does that, the Senate resolution will likely fail.

I myself am not much of a proponent of the proposed strike, but I can at least agree with McCain that if we do strike, we ought to strike in such a way as to accomplish something meaningful and begin planning for a transition of leadership in Syria.  But the problem there, of course, is that the rebels aren't a monolithic entity, they're a bunch of semi-aligned militias.  And if we've learned anything from Iraq and the Arab Spring, it's that these guys don't tend to play well together once they've achieved their initial goals.


In Bloomberg’s City of Bike Lanes, Data Show, Cabs Gain a Little Speed.
Cars are somehow moving faster through the streets of Manhattan with the addition of bike lanes and other shared-use facilities?  If that's true, it's only because they now have fewer ways to cut each other off and now must work together.


NFL Roud-Up: First-Round Pick to Start at Quarterback for the Bills.
The Pats are giving the Bills 11-points on Sunday.  And my boss still picked them to cover.

Also: It's Geno Smith time for the Jets.  Something tells me that's not going to end well.


AP Reviews New Smartphones: Samsung Note and More.
Samsung and a few other companies have released "smart" watches this week--essentially massive honking phone-accessories for your wrist.  It's totally unclear who's going to want one of these, but anyway, here's a round-up of news and reviews on them from the AP.


Classes and Subclasses.
"[S]ubclasses also play a key role... We're looking at subclasses shouldering almost the entire burden in D&D Next, which were previously handled by character classes.

When we introduce new types of magic into the game in the future, we won't need to add a set of new classes to the game. Instead, we can present subclasses that tap into that power source. The shadow dancer can be a rogue subclass that dabbles in shadow magic, while the hexblade does the same for the fighter class."
 -- Well, that addresses my thoughts/concerns about the Swordmages and melee-build Warlocks.