The Daily Valet. - 10/11/19, Friday
✔️ International Incidents and Exceptional Airlines
Friday, October 11th Edition
A well-run and courteous airline is not something to be taken for granted.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
The NBA’s International Incident
The preseason game in China went ahead as planned, but it was tense
Well that was ... awkward. After nearly a week of uncertainty as the NBA and China engaged in a tense standoff, an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets went ahead as planned on Thursday. But as the Ringer noted, "It was impossible to watch the game—which aired on NBA TV here in the US, and not at all in the nation in which it was played—without thinking about all that was being left unsaid on the broadcast, and about the staggering number of issues that remain unresolved six days after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of protests in Hong Kong began an international incident."The Chinese government was offended, the NBA went into furious damage-control mode and the league was blasted for cowering. As Jason Gay put it: "a good deal of the sports media handled the story like it was loose nuclear material, or avoided it altogether, Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually signed the same letter of condemnation, President Trump hauled off on Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, and everyone who’s ever wanted to put 'NBA' and 'hypocrisy' in the same sentence got their opportunity, and South Park got it right, like it always does."
But after the Nets finished off a 114-111 win, we didn’t hear from Brooklyn coach, Kenny Atkinson. And LeBron James, perhaps the most famous basketball player in the world and certainly an outspoken figure on political issues here in the States, wasn’t made available for comment and has remained silent on the matter, dodging reporters in China and keeping quiet on social media.
Now, questions abound about future business fallout for the NBA in China as dozens of Chinese brands rethink their relationship with the league. Meanwhile, the NBA’s annual international parade is now haunted by the specter of a gigantic international story that the Ringer's Dan Devine says "everybody’s talking about, even if nobody’s really all that willing to talk about it."
The Movie About This Mess Is Gonna Be Nuts
It might be exciting if it wasn’t so depressing
Two associates of President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani were arrested by FBI agents Wednesday evening. At the airport. With one-way tickets out of the country. The charge? Trying to pour foreign money into US elections. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, both foreign-born Florida businessmen, bankrolled Republican campaign committees with nearly $500,000 and later dined with the president at the White House. The two had been helping Giuliani investigate Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.
According to the Washington Post, the indictment "does not allege any wrongdoing by the president or his campaign, but the charges of political donations made for the secret benefit of foreign interests adds to the growing legal and political pressure on Trump and his attorney as they try to fend off Democrats’ impeachment efforts."
Hours after the two were indicted on federal campaign finance charges, the House also subpoenaed them for depositions about their work in Ukraine. Rick Perry, the energy secretary, was also served.
Special Promotion
The gents at MR PORTER help us determine the three watch styles every man should consider owning. Consider this the gentleman’s watch wardrobe.
What’s the Best Airline to Fly?
Over half a million travelers weighed in ...
It's a good time to fly, despite the occasional angry tweets about delayed flights or lost luggage showing up on your timeline. According to J.D. Power, overall satisfaction with US carriers rose to its highest point in history last year. One reason, according to Conde Nast Traveler? Newly flush airlines are finally "pumping their profits into what passengers care about most—new planes, better Wi-Fi, and even improving that perennial punch line, in-flight meals."
For the magazine's 32nd annual Readers’ Choice Awards, they surveyed more than 600,000 travelers in order to choose the best airlines. And while I haven't flown their #1 pick, Alaska Airlines, I was a fan of the high style and modern amenities of Virgin America (which Alaska acquired in 2016). And I will say that the #3 spot, Hawaiian Airlines, definitely deserves recognition. My flights to and from Honolulu were among the most civilized and pampered economy flights I've ever experienced. What about you? Did your chosen airline make the cut?
↦ How to: Preserve your expiring airline miles, no flying necessary thanks to the experts at By The Way.
Has Amazon Gotten Too Powerful?
Jeff Bezos’s empire (and wealth) is massive ... and massively scary
Two large profiles of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos just hit the web and both tackle his outsized ambition, matched only by the size of his colossal company. Did you know that Amazon is now America’s second-largest private employer? (Walmart, of course, is the largest.) It traffics more than a third of all retail products bought or sold online in the US. It now owns Whole Foods and helps arrange the shipment of items purchased online from eBay to Etsy. Recent estimates have Amazon Web Services controlling almost half of the cloud-computing industry—institutions as varied as General Electric, Netflix and even the CIA rely on its servers.As the New Yorker puts it, "you probably contribute to Amazon’s profits whether you intend to or not. Critics say that Amazon, much like Google and Facebook, has grown too large and powerful to be trusted." And The Atlantic outlines the ways in which it will only grow larger and more omnipresent. "Over the course of just this past year, Amazon has announced the following endeavors: It will match potential home buyers with real-estate agents and integrate their new homes with Amazon devices; it will enable its voice assistant, Alexa, to access health-care data, such as the status of a prescription or a blood-sugar reading; it will build a 3-million-square-foot cargo airport outside Cincinnati; it will make next-day delivery standard for members of its Prime service; it will start a new chain of grocery stores, in addition to Whole Foods, which it already owns; it will stream Major League Baseball games; it will launch more than 3,000 satellites into orbit to supply the world with high-speed internet." Is your head spinning? Because mine sure is.
↦ In related news: Amazon workers watch your cloud cam home footage to train its artificial intelligence.
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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A Weekend Pairing
El Camino + Dos Hombres Mezcal
Breaking Bad is back! Well, kind of ... it's a new feature-length sequel, dropping on Netflix today. And it's a gripping thriller about fan-favorite Jessie Pinkman in the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity. Judging by the trailer, the movie introduces a handful of new characters but brings back a bunch of familiar faces—the most important being Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), whom we last saw looking broken but alive, speeding off through the desert in … an El Camino.
But before you start streaming, pour yourself some Dos Hombres mezcal. While the show made a habit of highlighting whiskey, this artisanal mezcal is actually owned by Aaron Paul and his former costar Bryan Cranston. The smoky, small batch spirit is crafted from a unique blend of "the finest Espadin agave, hand-selected from the hillsides of a small village in Oaxaca, Mexico." What better drink for a series that ended in a cloud of gun smoke?
↦ Watch It: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is streaming now on Netflix.
What We’re Buying
Cole Haan's Semi-Annual sale is offering 30% off plenty of their classics, from Chelsea boots to loafers. But if you ask me, the true steal is the ZeroGrand wingtip, now over half off. The ultimate business casual crossover shoe, many companies have tried to copy it but just can't make them as great. They're the perfect pair to de-stiffen a full suit. I also like pairing them with jeans to make my outfit a bit dressier while retaining all the comfort of an athletic shoe. One tip: the knit uppers are so thin, you might consider ordering half a size down.
↦ Get It $200 / $97.96 at Cole Haan
Morning Motto
Let’s do some living this weekend.
↦ Follow: @thegoodquote
That’s all for today...
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