TimG

The fact that there are eco-terrorists doesn't mean we should attempt to dissuade all environmentalists from working for the causes they believe in.

The majority is not always right. I live in Maine, in these United States of America. There is no death penalty in Maine, nor in 11 other states. The other 38 states, plus the Federal Government, have the death penalty. The quick web reading I have done, reveals that the Federal Government has executed only 3 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. My guess is that this small number is because states usually have jurisdiction in homicide cases.

Avoiding 50/50 games (or slams) is a legitimate way to try to generate swings. STaC or Spingold. Is there some money riding on the result? There are probably things you could do to increase your variance and thus your chance at scoring up a >70% game (as well as a <45% game). But, I don't imagine it will help your game in the long run.

I think you are wrong here. Some systemic areas may require no judgment at all (answering a relay ask, for instance), but most agreements, however detailed, require judgment for proper use. I was recently given this hand, ♠KJx ♥Jxxxx ♦Qxxx ♣A, and told that partner opened 1♥ in 4th position (I've already used my judgment to pass this hand in 2nd seat). Responder's options included Drury, a 4C splinter, a limit raise (3♥), a forcing raise (3NT) or a direct jump to 4♥. This pair had agreements, now they had to apply judgment to select from amongst the options. For me, this pre-session cramming is a distraction. I may get things right early in the session (or tournament), but later in the session (or later in the weekend), I may be less sure of myself. I think this tends to be true for just about any method that isn't already ingrained. Don't get me wrong, I think partnership agreements and system building are a fun part of bridge. But, the tinkering that is often involved, or just getting up to speed in a new partnership, distracts from other parts of the game. At least it does for me.

Both hands have only 12 cards.

According to wikipedia:

Perhaps you are correct. While I consider myself an atheist, I do not feel it is important that I convert others to this point of view. Dawkins struck me as something of an evangelical atheist -- The God Delusion was something of an attempt at conversion rather then enlightenment or education. There may be a fine line between the two which I have inadequately described.

Is it clear that they can all be avoided? I agree that society could go along ways toward creating an environment that is not so conducive to such tragic eventualities. But, I don't think it is realistic to think that they can be eliminated.

Won't a good opponent lead the Queen from Qxx (if they are going to break the suit)?

I've only read The God Delusion, but I found Dawkins to be preachy, which seemed to me to be a bit ironic given what he was arguing against.

Can GIB fill in when a player leaves mid-round and/or fill-out an individual field with a non-multiple-of-four players?

If you're playing against a weak pair, isn't it likely they've already done something wrong? If they haven't, you're in the same position you would be against the strong pairs and ought to do whatever you would do against a strong pair. If I open this hand, I find that LHO has decided not to open 2S because he also held four small hearts. He has no problem coming into the auction after I open and ends up making a spade partial.

I'm pretty sure I've never played in a BBO free tournament. It seems to me that the effect of pairs dropping out could be lessened if the movement were a Swiss. It really wouldn't matter if a number of pairs dropped out half-way through (or whenever they felt they were no longer in contention). Are BBO free tournaments run with a Swiss movement, or are they regular Howell or Mitchells?

After reading this thread, I was much more aware of the fact that a card is raised when the mouse is over it. To me, this seems as good as the drag and drop I had suggested (in less elegant terms). Still, something similar for the bidding box would be good, IMO.

To help with misclicks when playing cards, the software could allow a card to be detached from the hand and played when placed in the middle of the table. Something similar, though I don't knew exactly what, could be done for the auction.

Don't you want partner to have something in clubs to play 3NT? And, isn't it likely that 3NT is better declared from his side when he has a little something in clubs (like Qxx)? I think 3♣ should show something in clubs, probably 4153, but could also be this 4252 hand that does not want to declare NT.

In my experience, that is something of an oxymoron. What is he supposed to promote, a deadly game of bridge? Bookstores are often great places to advertise these kinds of things. My point was that you shouldn't market bridge as something it is not. If you do, don't be surprised when those who you attract to your lessons are disappointed and choose not to pursue the game.

Didn't McCain recently vote against a bill that would have put an end to water boarding by the US? I'm guessing I read that in this forum, so maybe the information isn't so reliable.

How do we know they weren't just being polite to laugh (or smile) at the supposedly humorous material?

Your rat?

Never mind, got it working. (Something about turning images off, I clicked on the address, not the link, which somehow made a difference.) Anyway, just confirmed that I do not have the field option. My original point may have been lost in all of this: it would be nice to be able to put a real name in a user's profile.

I like the second definition in this case: to throw into confusion. Which is exactly the intent behind the lightning fast play in question.

No, 3NT is not unusual.

My knowledge of Sharia Law does not go far beyond the information in this thread, which is to say it is severely limited. But, I have read a bit of Bernard Lewis's The Muslim Discovery of Europe which gives me some knowledge of how Muslims interacted with the Western World centuries ago. My impression is that Muslims seldom attempted to impose their views or religions on the Western peoples they met and lived amongst. Admittedly, some of this was due to a Muslim belief that the Westerners that they met were not worthy of being converted. At any rate, it would seem to me that Westerners have been far more zealous (and brutal) in their attempts to convert the locals.

I don't think "even tempo" means that each call (or play) takes the same amount of time. But rather that calls (or plays) made in similar situations are made in similar amounts of time.