Thursday, September 8, 2016

Random Access

A stroll through the morning's Twitter feed.


First off, you have to choose a career out of a very narrow field:

Management consultants, investment banks and big law firms are the Holy Trinity of white-collar careers. They recruit up to a third of the graduates of the world’s best universities. They offer starting salaries in excess of $100,000 and a chance of making many multiples of that. They also provide a ladder to even better things.

 I had one of those high-flying management consultant gigs, and yeah, it was fun (and lucrative), but it also took my life over completely.  I won't lie: when the Dot-Com bubble burst, and that job went away, I wasn't as sad as you might expect.  Truthfully, I think a lot of guys in those jobs have surprisingly similar experiences.

[B]y far the best way to get into the tiny group of elite firms is to be studying at the tiny group of elite universities...

 Probably true, unfortunately.  Still, don't discount the value of an engineering degree coupled with a decent post-graduate education.  I've seen quite a few guys do well with that.  Maybe not 1% well, but more than well enough to be comfortable.



That's not much.

It concerns me that Trump has stopped sounding like a crazy person.  Some of his recent foreign policy comments have been downright lucid, though I still disagree with the basics facets of his international outlook.  His brand of isolationism is a mirage as far as I'm concerned, and it's tough to see exactly how we could fight ISIS differently without getting into another protracted ground war in Iraq.  As the opposition, however, issues like these are less pressing on Trump's candidacy.

That said, it appears undeniable, at least from the outside, that the military leadership establishment has become more interested in making sure that we have transgender soldiers in the Infantry than it is in preparing a realistic response to, say, a Russian armored push into Estonia.  At a national level, I think folks are more concerned about actual military readiness, but that's not coming through in the current climate, hence all the talk about "honesty" in dealing with the issues.  This was certainly the thrust of the eighty-eight former military leaders who endorsed Trump earlier this week.

However.  Trump says he wants to spend MORE on defense, a position that thinking people everywhere must find untenable.  We need to spend differently, I agree, and we badly need to overhaul our weapons procurement process, but spending more...

I mean, that's throwing good money after bad in many cases.



The Yankees cut or traded half their veteran players, and suddenly they're relevant again.  Amazing.



I really enjoy Black Knights Alley.  The beers are (way) over-priced, and the best thing they have on offer is Landshark, but the band is always a lot more fun than I think it's going to be.  Half the fun of game days for me is hanging out with my people.  That's an integral part of the experience.

If you're wondering, there were something like five hundred tickets remaining last time I looked.  I've been wondering if this game will sell-out.



He's ready to leave this crap behind, you can tell.  Still, I think I might have a word with my Press Secretary about managing my image after letting a photo like this get out to the public.   The man is entitled to some down time, but can't we at least make sure he has a Polo shirt and a belt when he's going to be around photographers?



Good for him.  Riley's having a good season.



I secretly think the Giants have a really good team.  Yes, their O-Line struggled in the preseason, but they also played Eli Manning very sparingly.  Close inspection shows a lot of guys on islands against rushers they had no business blocking.  I suspect that scheme will change this quite a bit, which is exactly what we've seen in previous seasons.

Meanwhile, Big Blue's defense actually looks good.

If you take last season's offense and pair it to a competent defense, you get a playoff run.  That's about where I expect this team to wind up.  Nine or ten wins, with a late-season duel against the Redskins to determine who wins the division.  They win that, they get in.  That's my outlook.


And that's all I've got, folks.  Have a good day!
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