TimG

Don't they also ask everyone to stand when they sing "Take Me Out to the Ballpark"? It's during the 7th inning stretch, isn't it?

I chose the crazy Americans option even though I am a US citizen and the never option would also have applied. I did go to a Double A baseball game recently. I stood during the playing of the National Anthem, but did not place my hand over my heart (I was not wearing a hat to be removed). My mother was with me. Though she did not say anything, I know she was annoyed when the crowd started cheering before the last notes had been sung. I went to vote a couple of days ago (school budget). It was raining and I was wearing a hat. Shortly after I walked into the polling place, I noted that I was the youngest in the room by at least 25 years. I removed my hat, in part so that the people there would not think I was rude.

I agree. And, I suspect that District 25 would be happy to replace one of their regular regionals with a World Championship, even if it cost the District some money in lost revenues. At least that's what I hope they would do.

Yes, I do mean the whole district, though in this District about 40% of the District's membership is actually in the Eastern Massachusetts Unit where the NABC is held so that a lot of the work is done by actual locals. The New England District, especially from a population density standpoint, is far less spread out that many ACBL Districts. Each Unit in District 25 has a special day at the NABC, but I still expect that the bulk of the work is done by players from the unit where the NABC is actually held.

Those are all things that simply don't exist at EBU events. As I understand it, the ACBL does all of the things at NABCs that the EBU does at its national events. PS: You forgot to mention the cellphone check-in service. I was at an NABC in Kansas City maybe 10 years ago. There was one evening (I think a Sunday) that had no hospitality (free food). There was actually something of an uproar.

In many states a first time possessor of a small amount of marijuana is subject to no jail time -- the consequences are little different than a speeding ticket.

I have the same question. Given that the chores involved in running a NABC are essentially the same year in and year out, you'd think that Memphis would have team that goes from NABC to NABC. There are numerous committees filled by locals at a NABC. The information desk, the partnership desk, the restaurant guide, the registration desk, etc. are all manned or put together by locals. The registration gifts are selected by locals, the NABC logo is selected by locals, the hospitality (free food every evening) is selected by locals who (I believe) work directly with the hotel staff. No NABC would run without a host of locals doing a lot of work. Whether or not that is the way it should be is another matter.

I think perhaps there is a difference in how we are defining "losing money". If a District engages in "extra fund raising" and then spends this money so that at the end of the NABC a District has less money than it started with, to me that is "losing money". Even if the District planned all along to spend that money during the NABC. While I have not been as involved with District finances as you have, I have been on a District board before and after a NABC and have seen District treasurer reports. The balance of the District's "NABC fund" is much lower after an NABC than it is before an NABC. Bottom line: District 25 spends money when a NABC is held in the District. Whether that is considered "losing money" or just spending according to budget, the result is the same.

I'm pretty sure that some Districts have a considerable outlay when they host an NABC. District 25 (New England) sets aside funds for the NABC, spends them during the NABC, and then replenishes during the years between NABCs in New England.

Doesn't this make 59 democrats and 60 are needed to be filibuster proof? At least that is what the report I heard on NPR indicated.

Real Estate Slump Hits Luxury Condos -- Boston Globe.

I think this thread should be closed and stickied to memorialize the occasion of Richard and Jimmy being in agreement.

Found on the web: As of the 2005-06 season, the NHL has adopted the shootout to settle ties in regular season games. The shootout is used if the game remains tied after five minutes of overtime. # Each team names three shooters. If the game remains tied after the three shooters are done, teams continue shooting in "sudden death" mode. The game cannot end until each team has taken the same number of shots. # With the adoption of the shootout, ties are eliminated from the NHL standings. A team is awarded two points for a win (listed as "W"), zero points for a regulation loss ("L") and one point for a game lost in overtime or a shootout ("OT" or "OTL").

In the little reading that I have done, it does not sound to me like the pirates have a political agenda, they're quite simply out for the money. Is that right? I'm sure I would be surprised by the number of ships that pass through the Gulf of Aden, but how many of these are American ships? How coordinated have the military escorts been? Have ships that were under escort been pirated? From a purely US perspective, couldn't the piracy of US ships be virtually eliminated through the use of Navy escorts through the area?

Marshall Miles recommends that on the second round of the suit you play high from an original odd holding and low from an original even holding. Treating odd holdings one way and even holdings another is like the 3rd/5th(lowest) approach. I imagine that some 3rd/5th(lowest) leaders get mixed up by not being sure whether original holding or present holding is the determinant.

Having them convicted and punished would send a message, wouldn't it?

I'd expect Michaels, but it would be something of a guess on my part.

I don't think I said that and I certainly don't think that an education's importance is in making as much money as possible.

I think it is a mistake to use "education" to mean college. I think more valuable than a college education is vocational training. Yes, sometimes a college education serves as vocational training, but not always. There are also lots of college educated individuals working jobs that shouldn't require a college degree. Which seems to me like a waste of resources.

I don't necessarily think a smart person is better at knowing who they should be receiving advice from. Sometimes smart people are terrible at receiving advice because they think they always have the answer without someone else's help. Less smart people, who recognize the need for advice, could well be more experienced at receiving advice and better able to select the people from whom they should receive advice. I think you are really reaching... Maybe you're just too smart... :-)

I was recently reading a thread (on another forum) about butchering home grown chickens and how to deal with telling young kids the truth about where meat comes from. One suggestion was "say how it's [the chicken's] 'purpose in life' and of course play up the 'better place in heaven' thing." Seems to me that the lesson there is that killing something (or someone) is good because the something (or someone) that is dead will end up happier. Someone else told their kids "we will keep the 'nice' ones (the hens) and eat the 'mean and nasty ones' (the roos)." Another good lesson: mean things deserve to die. On another front, I think my kids are exposed to more violence on TV and in movies than I was as a kid and expect that I was exposed to much, much more than my parents were when they were kids. I also think that the exposure cannot fail to desensitize to a degree. How many people were killed in Psycho? I think two. How many in one of the Halloween movies? I don't mean to blame things on the entertainment industry, but I can't help but think that the TV and movies we are exposed to is part of the problem.

I don't necessarily think a smart person is better at knowing who they should be receiving advice from. Sometimes smart people are terrible at receiving advice because they think they always have the answer without someone else's help. Less smart people, who recognize the need for advice, could well be more experienced at receiving advice and better able to select the people from whom they should receive advice.

The newest dealing machines do not need bar coded cards. The machines are more expensive, as you might expect.

Hmm, although I was raised in a Christian household and regularly attended church (and Sunday School), I do not consider Christianity to be a part of my cultural identity. My wife, who was raised in a Jewish household and regularly attended Temple and went to Hebrew School, probably does consider Judaism to be part of her cultural identity even though she has also rejected religion. I imagine there are a few reasons for this, but that the primary one is that Jews are a minority. As such, their communities are more close knit and there is more of an us vs. them attitude, not in a confrontational way, perhaps more in a way of pride in community achievement. There is an Italian Heritage Center in this area; I can't think of any White Anglo-Saxon Heritage Center in the area.

I think I would have bid 4♠ instead of 3♥. As to what this double means: 1♦-1♥-3♦-3♥ 4♦-DBL I think it is the dreaded balance of power double, suggesting that we either defend 4♦X or play 4♥ depending upon the nature of advancer's raise. 3♥ has to cover a sort of wide range because of the crammed auction. If part two is what to do when this double is passed back to us, then it might be time to abstain.