Notes From All Over, Part 3 -- January 11, 2020

First things first, over in Frisco, just up the road from us. The North State University Bison made history in Frisco, TX, becoming the first modern-era Division 1 college football program to go 16-0 in a single season. Only 1894 Yale shares that honor. Story here;

NFL playoffs;

• Vikings vs San Francisco: I assume most television viewers quit watching after the middle of the second period. Went off and did something else during the second half; didn't come back; and, waited for the night game. 49ers overwhelming; Vikings, not so much.
• Ravens vs Tennessee: right now, the underdog Titans have the game under control. Six minutes left in third period, the Titans have just recovered a fumble, and lead by a couple of scores, 28 - 6. It's the Titans' game to lose, and it will be one of the comeback stories of the century if the Ravens come back to win this one.

The wall: I'm too tired to provide background to this story or to comment on it. A reader just sent it to me. I'll post the link -- you are on your own -- and maybe come back to it later. My only comment: Tommy Fisher knows how Trump thinks; my hunch is that Fisher will succeed. Coincidentally, earlier today;

Amazon Prime: I mentioned this earlier. Unlike so many other "streaming" services, Amazon Prime seems to have a different business model. Most "streaming" services increase prices on an annual basis but don't announce any new "goodies." Amazon seems to announce new "goodies" every six months or so, and whether there's a price increase of not, it's hard to say. I don't know if my Amazom Prime subscription has increased; I don't care. Amazon keeps adding more "goodies" to its basic service. Tonight I see that Amazon Prime offers free two-hour grocery delivery in select cities. Obviously that includes the DFW area -- if not now, soon. This is going to drive the local supermarkets nuts. I think our local grocery store charges about $10 per delivery. But now, free. You have to be kidding. Yup, it does. I just checked: Amazon Prime offers free two--hour grocery delivery in most US cities of any size. I don't shop at "whole paycheck" (Whole Foods) -- prices are too high -- but free delivery -- I may have to think again. But whether I take advantage of this or not, this is a huge deal for seniors, shut-ins, etc., etc.

Regime change: We were in Europe when "the wall" came down. Many of us in uniform in Europe anticipated events before they happened. We could see what was happening. The media was lagging behind the story by about 24 to 48 hours. What is happening in Tehran tonight reminds me of Berlin, November, 1989. Watching the events in Tehran unfold on twitter over the past 24 hours suggest that there really could be regime change. The economy is in a shambles; the Iranians as a whole are a pretty astute, smart people. They know it is not America that is the source of all their problems. Over the past ten years (or longer) "Death to America" rallies has gotten them nothing. As it has been noted on American television this past week, 30% of the Iranian population is controlling the other 70%. Both Trump and Pompeo are tweeting more than I've ever seen -- directly to the Iranians. Trump even tweeted a message in Farsi to the demonstrators. One gets the feeling that the Iranians have 72 hours to get this right. This geo-political stuff is absolutely fascinating. By not retaliating when the 16 ballistic missiles were launched, one get the feeling that Trump's team knew exactly what they were doing, and it seems, based on the story being reported in the WSJ today, the millennial reporters in Washington, DC, haven't got much of a clue. As a trivial sideshow, how this plays out has great significance for Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.