pilowsky

That's why Ken gets the big bucks

So, when is a revoke not established 🙂.

Really. You have nothing better to do with your time?

...don't you have anything better to do with your time? the rest of the par reads...." this statistic is also true. BUT the true statistic is 20 to 50 million." In other words, 50 WAS the upper limit and most of that was caused as it seems to be now by the stupidity, moral turpitude and rank incompetence of the administration. Get a grip and stop wasting time on the Forums and do something useful. I am not paying you to make snide remarks about me. I am also endlessly patient. If I make a mistake I'll thank you for it and move on. It's called learning. That's not what is happening here. 20-50 million people died. Now stop farnarkling about and get back to work. You are fortunate to live in NZ a country that is likely to escape relatively unscathed compared to most.

One of the most important things about trying to be funny Barry is attention to detail. There is only one l in Pilowsky. So if I were to refer to you as Barry Mangolin that would be humorous - no doubt you copped that one a lot. My mother Marl also messed up words occasionally and my Father called them 'Marlopropisms' she was a demon at scrabble. Since I have a medical degree I suppose you could call me Pillowsky as a joke, but as my Father would say "it's like a joke except for the bit at the end". Your comment is unfortunately not far from the truth. In Australia, the Department of Health ran a campaign to stop pregnant people (women obviously for those not medically qualified, or Arnold Schwarzenegger) smoking because it would cause intrauterine growth retardation (small sick babies). Tragically, many women started smoking more so that they would have easier deliveries. To the point. At most 50 million people died. True. When it is stated that at least 50 million died this statistic is also true. BUT the true statistic is 20 to 50 million. many of which were CAUSED by the advice of the white house Surgeon-General and the cramming of unfortunate souls onto Troop ships (I wonder if some were cruise ships?). If it makes you feel better to make Pilowsky jokes in a time of personal difficulty, that's fine by me. You are at the end of a very long line. I'll go back to helping people: like you should be: any way that's what's in Pillowsky's mind.

Pilowsky is not interested in lessons from so-called teachers that get their qualifications along with a discount coupon in the mail and then make tedious ad hominem remarks. He is getting his lessons from actual experts not from Captain Mainwaring. Thank you very much. Instead of complaining and whinging why not try to help people like a normal human being?

Although you can play a game that bears a remarkable similarity to club bridge when playing against robots on BBO, it isn't. You are practising. If you want to practise using a system other than the 2/1 that they offer then there are many other platforms available. Just search the internet. BBO is basically a casino. It is even domiciled in Nevada! On the other hand, when playing at a table with four humans (although sometimes it can be hard to tell because bridge players are notorious for their lack of talent with jokes) then you can play actual bridge and call the director (DIRECTOR). Just as in real life they will make rulings that you don't agree with and tell you to hurry up or you will get an average. Afterwards, you can complain to the committee and they will also ignore you. Pretty good huh. Unfortunately, because of social distancing, you can't go to the pub and have a beer, but you can Skype me and complain about the bloke at table 7 who was mean to you. Personally I always try to sit north-south so that I don't have to get up and walk around, but each to their own. I hope that helps. Keep well.

Yes, Curls you are being selfish. Stop it.

The most wonderful thing about bridge directors and Donald Trump is that they are always right: about everything. It’s amazing. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is a problem that has challenged the greatest minds in philosophy since time began. I never realised that the solution lay in a short take-home exam that I could master in a couple of hours.

What's a blue axe?

I think my poodles want to have an intelligent conversation with you.

Please don't say things that you are not qualified to say. Aspirin (capital A because it is a trade name) was a drug made by the German company Bayer. I always remember this because in 1925 Bayer merged with other German companies to form IG Farben. They used slave labour during WWII, made heroin, and contributed to the Holocaust by manufacturing Zyklon B. "...And if hydroxychloroquine is a risk factor, it may be only administered as a last chance medication when the patient is desperately ill, by which time it might be too late anyway." Unfortunately your comment is incorrect. The problem is that Trump is recommending a drug that people can buy over the internet. You might be used to going to a Doctor and going through exhaustive screening and careful checks before you take any drug but in the real world in the middle of a pandemic that is not how it works. The Carpet-bagger in chief and his family of grafting idiots are promoting an idea that if taken willy-nilly may cause untold damage. That is what is happening. Worse still, some people are now also taking anything that sounds a bit like 'chloro-' anything and dying as a result. Impersonation of a doctor is a criminal offence. Apparently impersonation of a competent President is not. We are in a different world. People are walking around not realising that bullets are flying around them. As for the 50 million nonsense. Give up guys. Trump would not know a fact if it hit him on the head. The man is so repellent that he will probably live forever and not even catch the virus. Everything he says is a lie, every word from his mouth is self-serving narcissism intended to deflect blame and enrich himself and his gang of criminal loons: and that's me being kind. He also stated that he knows everything about South Korea including the fact that Seoul has a population of 38 million people. It doesn't, but it is 38 metres above sea-level. Perhaps you have an argument about how he is actually correct on that one? If you watch him struggling to read his notes you will quickly realise why he is so ill-informed. He obviously has the reading age of a 12-year-old child. That is why all his information comes from television and Millenial sycophants. And people call me stupid!

Where have all the directors gone. Long time passing. Where have all the intermediates gone, long time passing?Where have all the intermediates gone, long time passing?Where have all the intermediates gone?Young girls have played them everyone.Oh, when will they ever learn?Oh, when will they ever learn?Where have all the Aces gone, long time passing?Where have all the Aces gone, a long long time ago?Where have all the Aces gone?Gone from Easts hand everyone.Oh, when will they ever learn?Oh, when will they ever learn?Where have all the best leads gone, long time passing?Where have all the best leads gone, long time ago?Oh, when will they ever learn?Oh, when will they ever learn?

Except they didn't treat it with Aspirin. They killed people with Aspirin because they recommended a toxic dose. Just like Trump is recommending the usage of wide-scale use of a drug that is lethal in 1:2000 members of the population that have the gene for long QT syndrome. There is a reason for studying to be a Doctor as opposed to just guessing.

You make a very good point. A lot of the bidding systems - and the facial expressions that accompany them - that I see in the club look and sound like the vertical expression of a horizontal desire .

Do I have to charge for English lessons now? At most 50 million, and at least 50 million, mean the same thing. NOT more than 50 million. Are you two related? In the flu pandemic, 20 to 50 million died. Look it up before you pass out.

Ah yes, you are being silly Chas. "At least" is an English phrase meaning less than. Since you are unable to spell Charles, maybe you cannot read English either. In fact, 20-50 million died NOT 50 to 100 million as claimed by the man impersonating a world leader. Of these Less than 50 million (still a substantial number obviously) many were killed because of the stupid advice to take lethal doses of Aspirin by the Surgeon General of the time. and by the idiotic policy of packing young soldiers into troop carriers like sardines while many Americans at home were practising social distancing. If the US administration of the time had been more on the ball. The toll would have been much lower. The same is true today. Plus ca change. What does it take?

If that's true and you really want a fair competition. Play in robot tournaments where cheating is impossible. Bridge is a video sport. In the future competitors will sit in cubicles not at tables and the nonsense we have seen in the past will disappear. There will be no need for "laws and rulings" in the way that we have understood it in the past. The world has changed forever.

That is one of the reasons that I prefer to play in friendly tournaments (for friendship) or in robot tournaments (for sport). Cheating is nearly impossible against robots. Bridge works much better when the idiots can't interfere and the game is pure.

You are wrong. I don't know why you play in tournaments if your sole objective is to 'win'. Good luck to you. Masterpoints and trophies are a joke. BBO is basically a Casino. I hone my bridge skills playing against robots where no-one can cheat. I play with people to have fun and to meet people. People can cheat if they are so stupid that they think that has intrinsic value: it does not. You are not saving lives. Cheating always comes out in the end and I really don't care. That's why I no longer pay usurious amounts of money to have silly bush lawyers pick me up on ridiculous points of (so-called) law or for other cretins to call me stupid (a topic on which I am now an expert). One director once told me at a Christmas party session that all South African Jewish women were arrogant: my mother was a South African Jewish woman. When I said that was inappropriate the manager of the club (without missing a beat) said calm down Paul "it's Christmas". So, no, I don't give a s***t (I didn't put the ******ing asterisks there :-) ) about cheating. Or masterpoints. If it's that important to them let them do it. Leo LaSota is my hero.

Chas. If you are trying to tell me that the person was correct, can I point out the CDC said 20-50 million. Not 50 to 100 million which is what the cretin at the press conference said. Is that what you are trying to say? Secondly, many of those deaths were CAUSED by the white house Surgeon General telling people to take lethal doses of Aspirin, AND also by the repatriation of young men in crowded troop ships. If they had not stuffed up these two simple policy measures the outcome would have been different. Very similar to the cruise ship problem of today. NSW Australia is now facing a huge problem because the government mishandled the disembarkation of a cruise ship.

In a press conference a moment ago a person being referred to as 'the president' just announced that 50 to 100 million people died in the last flu pandemic. The true number is exactly half that. I do not expect everyone to be knowledgeable about stuff like this, but the genius head of state surrounded by medical advisers ought to know such a simple fact. The same demented orange-tinged fat self-indulgent narcissistic idiot is also demanding the use of a drug that is known to be lethal in people with prolonged QT syndrome. This means he could be causing sudden death in the 1:2000 people who happen to have this genetic disorder. The man is clearly six cards short of a deck and a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. There are also a few kangaroos running around in the top paddock. Here is some information from the last influenza pandemic when another halfwitted piece of advice emerged from an American White House administration: at least these guys are consistently stupid. "Before the spike in deaths attributed to the Spanish Flu in 1918, the U.S. Surgeon General, Navy and the Journal of the American Medical Association had all recommended the use of aspirin. Medical professionals advised patients to take up to 30 grams per day, a dose now known to be toxic. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic)". Killing them from drug-induced pulmonary oedema instead of the flu - just to bulk up the numbers: thanks guys." To add insult to injury, the same cretins were handing out cigarettes in WW1 and WW2 to soldiers even though it was already known to be harmful. These same veterans are now in the high-risk group for the current pandemic that they take no responsibility for. (By the way folks It's this sort of situation that you need to save up these sort of words for: not poor judgement at bridge) Normally, if I heard a person talking the way that whining self-absorbed twit talks I would be asking myself why he hasn't been taken off for a psychiatric assessment. He seems to be as mad as a hat. Certainly, the little guy sitting nearby with the agonised expression on his face didn't look too happy. Anyway, that's just my personal opinion. It in no way reflects the consensus view of the Australian people or government or any society or organisation with which I am associated.

There isn't a place for silly bridge hands so I'm putting it here. Since I know that the robot cannot by definition, have more HCP than me in 'a best-hand' tournament this disaster was entirely my own making. I was caught between a rock and a hard place and decided - idiotically - 'to trust my partner' as you will see the robot (I have renamed it Golgotha) is telling me that it has 20+ HCP. Yes I know, The system card says at the top: "In general, the GIB robots on BBO use the 2/1 system described below. You can click on any of GIB's bids for an explanation, and pause your mouse over a bid you plan on making to see how it will understand it. Please drop us a line at support@bridgebase.com if you spot any errors in this document." Please let know if you have any luck. Here's another great line: "It's difficult to describe precisely how GIB defends." Well, it's also difficult to describe how GIB bids - see diagram below! Why was it my fault? Simply because I knew for a fact that I must have more HCP than my partner. It would rupture all laws of physics for Golgotha to have more than 12 HCP (which is what I had) but I just couldn't help myself and I got exactly what I deserved. Interestingly the robot does have 11 total points which are definitely certainly 20- total points, so at least that bit was right. Here is the link https://tinyurl.com/r73ce6p. (FYI the tiny URL maker is busted - you can make your own at tinyurl.com). To be completely fair, the robot did give me a 50/50 chance. The contract does make depending on lead, skill and luck - none of which I possess much of.

I have never cheated. It is completely pointless. You are not playing for money; there's nothing to gain. Anybody who cheats is simply wasting their time, and the joke is on them. Why would you bother even worrying about it?

Here is a short video from a former student of mine it has subtitles in Farsi. It provides an excellent explanation of why COVID-19 is much much worse than influenza and why social distancing is our ONLY protection. https://www.facebook.com/LeilaKheirandish/videos/2805863549497747/ Remember that the data are only as useful as the numerator AND the denominator AND the quality of the tests. None of these is currently reliable. What we know is that that it is worse than it seems.