Elianna

A player was caught going around looking at curtain cards in boards. It was at least 7 years ago (but perhaps more, I'm basing it on counting backwards from visits there). Perhaps our actual Israeli members have more detail about it. (The only more detail I have is identifying info, which I do not want to share.)

Considering the scandal that happened in Israel several years ago with curtain cards, I'd rather not have them here. We have our own cheating scandals.

I don't disagree. I was just addressing the question of why ACBL hasn't figured out how to use less predupped boards in team games when they might use predupped boards.

In some national swiss, they do predup the boards for the top matches. Also in certain rounds of the Spingold. I was referring to those such circumstances.

I've been told that the reason for this is that if there's a misduplication of a preduped board, it still arrives the same way for both tables of a match.

Honestly, I don't recall you being this belligerent before. You're more than welcome to disagree with MikeH, but you didn't have to express yourself in that way. Although I'm sure that MikeH can take it. What I think REALLY goes beyond the pale is insulting the OP. If you feel that this thread does not belong in Expert-class bridge, then quietly report it, and Ben will move it if he agrees. There's no need to insult anyone publicly.

DSI doubles are "Do something intelligent" doubles. Another name for them is "Blame transfers". Basically, they say "pick something to do, and I'm going to blame you if you're wrong". I think it would be better to have strong, general principles than to make your partner guess and be ready to pick him/her apart when he/she guesses wrong. I don't know if much bridge literature has been written about how to use them constructively.

The thing is, birth control pills aren't necessarily just "money spent on sex". There are PLENTY of women who are on birth control pills due to health (non-pregnancy related) reasons. Also, some women experience pregnancy-induced medical issues (like gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia, among others), and I would say that for them, birth control in general is a medical necessity. But even if you say that those who have uterine problems or would experience pregnancy-induced medical distress can have birth control pills paid for, but others can't, I would still argue that there is a good reason for health insurance companies to cover birth control pills. Preventive care is usually cheaper for health insurance companies than treating people after something happens, and that is why many of them are strong promoters of preventive care. The same for pregnancy. It is much cheaper for companies to pay for birth control than it is to pay for pregnancies

How are young men going to explode from hugging sailors? You do realize that there are female sailors, so the young men don't need to fill up with semen. :)

Don't think of it as "snitching", think of it as bringing a post to a moderator's attention, who might not have otherwise read it. Just because you "report" something, doesn't mean it will be deleted post-haste. It just means that the post in question will be reviewed. It's a good idea to write a reason, because the moderators are really busy people, and may not have the time to pour over some of the TLDR posts in the Water Cooler looking for the objectionable part. And just because they don't get back to you, does not mean that they didn't read your report, nor that they didn't do anything. There are disciplinary measures that are only clear to the person who made the post, and to the moderators (that way those of is in trouble do not have it publicized to others and be publically embarrassed).

No way am I playing until after PACT. Probably not until the end of the semester, too.

I usually bring leftovers from dinner. I'm so grateful that my job has microwaves and a fridge available. Sometimes I forget to bring a lunch. If I could eat anything for lunch, I would like Sushi, but there isn't a good restaurant near my work. I usually end up going to Subway and having a salad sub. Not a very good lunch, but at least it's food.

In Meyerson, X shows a 5+/4+ Major/minor hand, either one could be longer. So what you said is not WRONG (because they both could be 4+), it's just that at least one will be 5+.

Or you discover that you and partner have a different idea of when it's on (as I guess is the case here). Or, as also seems to happen frequently, partner forgets the meaning of the bids, or how to respond.

For the same reason that English teachers can tell students that Math is really hard, and it's ok if they don't work at it, because they don't get it themselves whereas if I told students that reading is really hard and it's ok if they don't read because I don't, I would be shunned and treated as an ignoramus.

Let's try this again: By my count, that's three!

I'd been told not to do that, because a tap is not technically a call (even though it's understood to be a call) and so someone can claim that they didn't make a call (they just touched the table) and now I've called out of turn. What I do now is routinely ask the person tapping if they're calling. And for the person picking up their hand, I point out that other people still have a call, and that gets them to stop doing that (for that auction at least, which is honestly all I think I can affect when I am a player).

Yep, that story sounds exactly like some of the things I was complaining about...

Being treated like the students I teach (FYI I do not treat them the way I am treated).

I would like to nominate Helene for best upvoter.

Many people in Israel manage to have gardens by reusing water. At least, that's how my family did that. Also, many Americans seem to use water indiscriminately. I had a roommate and we had the funniest fight. He asked the three of us (I had a third roommate) to be sure to wash out the little laundry detergent measuring device before we put it on the detergent bottle (because it would leak and be sticky). I was doing laundry, and he went off on me about not washing out the cup. I kept insisting that I did, and he was getting angrier and angrier. I finally stepped back and asked him why he thought I didn't, and he said that I didn't walk over to the sink. I was flabbergasted, because it NEVER occurred to me to waste sink water doing that task, I had used the running water in the washing machine to was out that cup. He had never thought of doing that. I have a constant fight with my husband about water, because I can't stand it when he leaves the water running when he's washing dishes, and he hates how I just randomly turn off the water on him. I can't help it.

There are buses that connect the airport to the green line. Or is it the blue line? I'm pretty sure the green one, to downtown. But I understand that the buses can be hard to navigate. I don't really recommend it unless you are staying in certain areas, and take these special "LAX Flyaway" buses.

I agree that there are parts of Los Angeles that are overhyped, but I think that this is a bit of an overbid.

If you must stop for fast food, and want a burger type place, I recommend In 'n Out over places like McDonald's and Burger King. Less of a choice on the menu, though.

Asking my relatives, they say that some depends on whether you have male or female teenagers. Some of their recommendations: -Basketball game (College if you can, Pro if it's easier) -Seeing College campuses especially Berkely, Stanford, UCLA if your kids are interested in college. -They think Knott's Berry Farm might be more appealing to teenagers ride-wise, but that it's pretty generic. They agree with me that it's probably best to go to Disneyland or pass up amusement parks in general. -They reminded me that Abbot Kinney has a lot of nice restaurants near Santa Monica beach.