TimG

Birth control pills are a "necessity of life"?

What if the local pizza joint wants to run itself as a private club with something like a 25 cent annual membership for those approved individuals? I'm sure there must be some reason this cannot be done as simply as it would seem. But, I've long wondered.

I'm sort of the opposite in my bewilderment. If people really believe that abortion is murder, then their passive acceptance and tolerance of these millions of murders is truly sad. They should be out there making a whole lot more noise and taking (perhaps drastic) measures to see to it that these murders are prevented.

Why is it that Dave wants to see Jane again? I think if he thought about it, he would realize that it's not Jane that is the attraction, but Jane's needing and the opportunity to take care of, or help, someone through a hard time. You don't fall for someone when you are listening to their down in the dumps story, you fall for being needed.

Palindromes are cool; I'd hate for them to be mixed up with Palin.

the following is from the Boston Globe: What does it say about journalists and the American public that it seems important to include "first African-American commander in chief" in the lead paragraph for an article about the economy?

This viewpoint (and I think it is a common one) is one I strongly disagree with. I did not mean to suggest that I believe telling teenagers about condoms encourages them to have sex. (I tend to believe it encourages those that are going to have sex anyway to practice safe sex.) But, there are plenty of "abstinence only" advocates who believe just that.

unless, of course, one believes that religion is a key issue for the country, which I think some do. Disagree. Religion can be a key issue for a country without being a key issue for the country's government. One can favor separation of church and state without dismissing religion in general. I think this is an easier view for the non-religious. Take premarital sex, for instance. One's religion might teach that premarital sex is immoral, so that an elected official that has this religious belief would be hard placed to support programs that make birth control available to teenagers; he would be acting immorally (in his view), or encouraging others to act immorally, if he supported such programs. I don't think the non-religious amongst us fully comprehend how impossible it is for some to suspend their religious beliefs when it comes to government. Religion is not something that can be practiced only when convenient, but rather it is an integral part of some people's every moment.

Here are some results. 100,000 sample size for each. (1) Give opener 4333, 4432, 5332, or 6322 with longest suit diamonds (open 1D with 44 in minors) and 18-19 HCP: opener has 3 spades = 50.9% opener has 4 hearts = 20.7% opener has 3 spades or 4 hearts = 64.1% opener has 3 spades and 4 hearts = 7.5% (2) Same, but allow opener to also be 1444 or 1363: opener has 3 spades = 45.8% opener has 4 hearts = 26.0% opener has 3 spades or 4 hearts = 64.9% opener has 3 spades and 4 hearts = 6.9% (1a) Same as (1), but open 1C with 44 in minors: opener has 3 spades = 55.0% opener has 4 hearts = 29.0% opener has 3 spades or 4 hearts = 73.2% opener has 3 spades and 4 hearts = 10.8% (2a) Same as (2), but open 1C with 44 in minors (so no 1444): opener has 3 spades = 52.4% opener has 4 hearts = 27.5% opener has 3 spades or 4 hearts = 69.8% opener has 3 spades and 4 hearts = 10.1%

Give me some simple constraints for opener and I will do the simulation. Something like 44 in the minors opens 1D or 1C? Could opener have six diamonds? If so, any restrictions on which hands with 6 diamonds would rebid 2N? 1363 for instance?

What do mean by mediocrity? How are you measuring that?

I would dispute that. The US, on the other hand, has dominated the World economically, intellectually and culturally (OK, some would say entertainment-vise instead of culturally, but that's just another word for the same). In fact the only areas in which the Soviet Union was able to compete were military and sport. If you asked an Ameican on the street what the greatest US glory of the last century was (and expected an answer within a few seconds), none (or very few) would say moving Disney to Paris or dominating the world economy (if that is even true) or cite the number of Nobel Prizes or Gold Medals that have been won by Americans. Victories in WWI and WWII would be overwhelming winners, I think. Being the first to place a man on the moon would probably be 3rd; "winning" the Cold War 4th.

There is, to me, a stunning amount of "American are the best" rhetoric in the US. Listen to any stump speech and you'll here "Americans are the most innovative" or "Americans are the hardest working" or any other number of superlatives. I don't know how you measure most of these things, but I doubt many of them are true, it's just the candidate trying to make the public feel good about themselves by putting down the rest of the world. But, the US probably does have the biggest army, the most bombs, the largest navy, etc. This is an area where America is best (if size matters). It is not surprising to me that millions of Americans cling to the "strong military" line -- it's a way for them to feel superior to the rest of the world. There's also a sense that the US saved the world from evil in WWI and WWII and the way the US did that was by flexing its military muscles. The greatest glories that the US has experienced in the last century have been military victories. There are people born in the second half of the 20th century that say "we beat Hitler" even though they had nothing to do with it. I think lots of people, whether consciously or not, vote big military because big military gives a sense of pride, importance, and superiority.

Playing vanilla 2/1 with agreed upon sound openings, red v white at IMPs, you hold: ♠T ♥T62 ♦9653 ♣AKJT3 and see (P)-1♦-(3♠)-? to you. What action do you take? If you pass, is ♠T ♥T962 ♦653 ♣AKJT3 enough of a change to get a negative double from you?

This is not an uncommon position (if even I know about it....). Declarer guessing wrong is not a sign that he is a fool or an expert. Bidding as the "star" did in the hand that started this thread is an indication that the player is not very good or that there is something we don't know about the meanings of his calls. BBO star often does not mean much regarding player skill and self-proclaimed experts are...well, they could be anything. The self-proclaimed experts in this forum are an entirely different matter.

I believe computer generated deals more closely match true random deals than hand dealt deals. Something about imperfect shuffling when done by hand.

You are fortunate to live in a place where religion and politics do not go hand-in-hand. Here in the US, anyone who pays any attention to politics has no choice but to know the religions of the candidates. Than again, I do believe that a person's religion says something about the man (or woman) and can be an indication of how he will comport himself when in office and how he will lean on some issues, so I'm not really sure why we would want to be in the dark.

From the District 25 KO CoC: "Matches will generally be 28 boards per session. Events scheduled with morning or midnight sessions will generally have 24 board matches. Events scheduled to play three sessions in one day will generally have 24 board matches. Matches in events restricted to players with fewer than 300 master points will generally be 24 boards." I don't have much experience outside of New England, so I have no reason to doubt that District 25 is unusual.

Opener will never bid 3N with ♦Qx if your 3♦ is artificial. And, 2N and 3♣ also allow partner to show delayed support of hearts. I generally prefer preference with a doubleton, but think that Phil's 2N is practical this time. Opener will opposite me. Responder would not be bidding 3D with Diamonds wide open with a marked D lead if angling for 3N. If opener reckons he has 9 in tops in NT without any D help from responder he will be bidding 3N next time with or without a 3D bid from responder. If, when he holds Axx KJxxx xxx Jx, responder does not bid 3♦ because he doesn't have any help there, then 3♦ isn't really artificial (4th suit).

What was the result here. I understand it was bidding practice, but I'm still curious about the "under bidding".

I don't think the ACBL mandates how many boards are to be played in a regional KO -- I'm quite sure new England (District 25) has their own set of CoC that specify the number of boards to be played in KO matches, for instance. And, I don't think that equalizing the number of boards per event in pair and KO events will necessarily equalize the session length; I find pair games exceptionally slow mostly because of two boards and wait, two boards and wait, two boards and wait extra long for a smoking (oops, hospitality) break. A straight comparison between number of masterpoints available in the two pair events and in the top bracket of the KO is not sufficient. You'd have to also compare size of the fields and the total masterpoints won in each event (and by that I mean in all the brackets for the KO event). For improved ratings, you'd also want to take into account the strength of the field and, as Richard has pointed out, the reliability of the event in ordering the participant in a way related to the skill exhibited in the event. (Pairs events may be more random than team events, and two day events might be more reliable than one day events, for instance.)

Opener will never bid 3N with ♦Qx if your 3♦ is artificial. And, 2N and 3♣ also allow partner to show delayed support of hearts. I generally prefer preference with a doubleton, but think that Phil's 2N is practical this time.

On the forums, people who judge to pass during a forcing auction are often right.

I thought maybe one of her recently purchased outfits was being auctioned off. Not that someone who wore a Palin costume won a prize.

I think McCain will say whatever the public wants. Perhaps these are not unbiased views. The difference: McCain has the record to prove it. Yeah, I'm stunned that a McCain supporter would cite this as a problem with Obama. It's like an Obama supporter saying that his trouble with McCain is that he lacks experience in Washington.