How I feel about it

I'm leaving AOL and while doing some clean up work I found a discourse I had with this dude on the Tennessean's old comment section who made me angry enough to roll away from the fire and attempt to educate him.

He wrote: "You prove you cant teach an old dog new tricks. You are set in your way and if anything counters it. It must be wrong. We will progress despite old fools like yourself.”

I reply: I usually do not comment on spelling and English because heaven knows I am as bad as anyone but when you call someone “old fools like yourself,” you should know that it should be “……..old fools like you.” 

BTW – My generation and the one following it beat Germany and Japan, won the Cold War against the Soviet Union, cured polio and almost completely stamped out such childhood diseases as whooping cough, mumps, measles and chicken pox. Along the way we developed the world’s greatest communication system, brought the Internet into service and, may the Lord forgive us, 200 or so TV channels full of blather and some occasional pieces of information. We recognized how wrong we were treating our citizens of color and expanded minority rights. We established free health care for the poor and Medicare for the aged. Social Security provided both insurance and a minimum retirement package. We put electricity and running water into every home and provided a school for every child. We noticed that the environment was becoming polluted and established a government agency that passed rules that cleaned up our air and water. We made air travel as available as bus travel was in 1950. 

So, new tricks? Jeff, my generation invented hundreds of new tricks. What has your generation done? You are losing the War on Terror against a bunch of dedicated but rag tag Muslim radicals. Instead of integrating people you are separating them into groups that must be protected by “hate laws.” Instead of establishing a true early warning system for bad weather you waste billions studying a false premise that man can control the earth’s climate. Instead of establishing a national health insurance system that covers everyone you have elected a President that has passed a law that is removing coverage for millions and increasing the cost for millions of others while telling those that work they need to pay for more free insurance for the Democrats base voting bloc. The agency that cleaned up the environment has spun out of control and is now focused on destroying whole industries. You have allowed an educational system that was the envy of the world to become a brain washing facility for politically correct goals. Students graduate not knowing our history. They may know how to Tweet on Twitter but they can’t write a complete sentence. They may be computer whiz’s but they haven’t the education that would allow them to invent the computer. 

My generation went to the moon. Your generation has abandoned manned space travel.

You speak of the “real cost” of carbon energy yet you cannot even begin to quantify that “cost.” You speak of “transition” to new energy sources yet you cannot show how your favorites…wind, solar and water…can provide the amount needed much less at an acceptable price.

I gave you proof that Dr Jones knows that MMGW has not happened. I gave you evidence that CO2 amplification has been vastly overstated. I now give you the fact that global temperatures have stopped rising some 16 years ago. And I have given you the requirements for something being a “scientific theory” and noted that MMGW doesn't even come close.

So have a nice day, Jeff. And try to remember that us old fools have been around the world a few times, three county fairs and uncountable goat ropings. In other words, don’t come unarmed to a battle of wits.


"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper “It’s the presumption that Obama knows how all these industries ought to be operating better than people who have spent their lives in those industries, and a general cockiness going back to before he was president, and the fact that he has no experience whatever in managing anything. Only someone who has never had the responsibility for managing anything could believe he could manage just about everything.” - Thomas Sowell in Reason Magazine

Nasty pictures

One of the commentators over at Talk Left regularly comment that I am a racist because of an unflatterng picture I posted of Obama, aka The Won, aka Dear Leader and documented liar.

He seems to forget the many nasty pictures the Left posted of Bush.

 

He is, of course a hypocrite.

 

 

But that's how it works. And criticism of Dear Leader means you are a racist. Any nasty of Bush is okay.

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper “It’s the presumption that Obama knows how all these industries ought to be operating better than people who have spent their lives in those industries, and a general cockiness going back to before he was president, and the fact that he has no experience whatever in managing anything. Only someone who has never had the responsibility for managing anything could believe he could manage just about everything.” - Thomas Sowell in Reason Magazine

When to leave a poker game

is the subject of much debate. Some say set a fixed amount of winnings or losings. I say some things will tell you. For example.

I was in a good fixed limit holdem game and was up about 60 big blinds. The game was solid. lots of fun to play. No whiners. No out of line loose play. Like I said. You could play poker and have fun!

Then it changed. A  guy sat down on my immediate right chug-a-lugged his Bud Lite, loudly ordered another and raised his first hand, chased a another player's pocket queens and made a 9 4 two pair on the river. And did it again and again. Accompanied by loud explanations as to why he called and raised and did it again and again.

Now I confess that I don't mind one loose player in a game. H/she you can beat. Two you can't. So even though he was on my left, and I much prefer loose players on my right, I decided that I was A Much Better Player Than H/she and dug in... In other words greed over took my common sense which was screaming "Leave! Leave!"

 Even worse a friend sat down on my right side and wanted to discuss the state of his world. Now normally I don't mind socializing. That's what poker is all about. But the combination of the loose dude yelling and my bud complaining the game got worse.

And the other dude talked louder and louder. And mostly in my ear. I asked him not to and he apologized and quit for about 5 minutes and then did it again. I called the floor supervisor and she did and he did ...again for about 5 minutes.

And another loose loser joined him and the game turned into show down.

Now I know some people say you can't beat a loose game by playing tight and you can't beat a tight game by playing loose. I disagree. If it turns into a showdown game it is just luck and if it is tight and you play loose you can't win in the long run... Which the dude on my Left did. But, or so I am told, before he busted out he burned a whole lot of other people's chips as well as his own.

But I digress.

After about an hour I had lost about a third of my winnings despite using good starting card selection and paying close attention to position. Not to forget saying to myself , "Don't get frustrated."

Finally I picked up an AK of clubs. Yes. Big slick on the button. A player in the middle raised and I made it 3 bets to go. Loud dude happily made it 4 bets. Not having completely lost my mind I just called.

The flop came  65 of clubs and 8 of hearts. Loud dude bet. Two people called. I raised to get a free card and everyone called.

The turn was a K of diamonds. Not the card I ws hoping for but hey! Top pair with an A kicker. Loud dude checked and it was checked around to me. I bet. He raised. Everyone folded to me. I called.

The river was a 5 of diamonds. Loud dude bet. I almost raised but I'm not completely stupid. I called and he turned over a 4 7 off suit. He had made a terrible call in the worst position and beat my ears off with his rainbow straight on the flop.

 

So I took the 50% I had left and made it to the cage. Why?? Not because of his play but because:

I flopped a big draw and made a big pair on the turn which sucked me along and 2 pair on the river which cost me more.

When you're getting hit with hands like it's time for a drink and beddy bye.

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper “It’s the presumption that Obama knows how all these industries ought to be operating better than people who have spent their lives in those industries, and a general cockiness going back to before he was president, and the fact that he has no experience whatever in managing anything. Only someone who has never had the responsibility for managing anything could believe he could manage just about everything.” - Thomas Sowell in Reason Magazine

Poker Cheaters

Poker Cheaters

Cheating at poker has progressed over the years. Whereas the supposed problem in the Old West was slick dealers stacking the deck and players sliding a hidden Ace into their hand the most usual cheating today is team play. Simply put team play can be used to run a player out with multiple raises or raise a team mate’s big hand so he wins a bigger pot. Somewhat more complex play is available almost exclusively on the Internet where 3 or 4 players tell each other what they have via phone or Internet. This allows a player to know certain things. That is, if three guys threw away an Ace and an Ace flopped then the fourth player’s pocket Kings is good and he knows it. That’s a bit simplistic but it shows my point. And if you can get say 20 extra small and big bets in per session that’s $720 in a 20-40 game going to your stack.

In live games that is almost impossible. But two people playing together is not. A buddy raises before the flop. Four people call. The flop comes. The bettor bets and the raiser raises again. One other player calls. The bettor reraises… and the player in the middle mucks his hand. If the cheaters are smart they bet/call to the River when one bets and the other folds. The dumber ones just check the hand down and one shows his hand and the other folds. A few instances of that and the smarter players at the table either get up and leave or complain, sometimes loudly, to the Floor Person supervising the game.

Unlike the Old West, cheating in casino card rooms is mostly ignored. While checking the Nuts in a tournament to your friend, if detected, will get you a penalty, team play may get a warning from the Floor Person but in 99% of the cases, nothing else. Why? Because it is hard to prove, slows the game, which hurts the rake and creates dissension. The casino doesn’t want that so they will mostly ignore it unless is way out of line and very obvious.

Worse, many people see nothing wrong in two buds soft playing in tournaments as well as ring games although multiple complaints sometimes bring banning.

Which is better than “Go for your gun, sidewinder!”

But what to do?? My solution is make suspects show both hands if there is a bet and call, or if both suspects check. And complain to the Floor Person, quietly if you don’t want controversy. Or just bring the subject while talking to another person. Sometimes just the subject being aired will stop it. But if not, pick up your chips and leave. You can't beat that game.

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper “It’s the presumption that Obama knows how all these industries ought to be operating better than people who have spent their lives in those industries, and a general cockiness going back to before he was president, and the fact that he has no experience whatever in managing anything. Only someone who has never had the responsibility for managing anything could believe he could manage just about everything.” - Thomas Sowell in Reason Magazine