pilowsky

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but 5% of men are red-green colour blind. This meant that in the mid1990's when fluorescence images were being published widely in medical science journals a decision was made by The Journal of Comparative Neurology that when reproducing colour images, Authors were not allowed to use red with green. This is now the industry standard in biological science. I'm glad to see that BBO uses white and red for vulnerability. Another Bridge site allows changing the table colour to 'improve' contrast. Anything that assists accessibility without impairing function is a good idea.

back now in Sydney

Locked out from 0945 Sydney time.

No doubt about it. 4♣ Gerber!

I have two poodles. One of them is lean smart and black. I call him Obama. The other one is fat white and stupid with a tinge of orange. Guess what I call him.

Is this what IT people fantasise about?

Concrete thinking again! Losing my mouse - I have a wireless mouse and when the battery runs low 'I lose it'. Pausing is only meaningful IRL where your partner can infer something from your mannerisms. Online, pauses mean absolutely nothing. Poor internet connections, bodgy mice, the phone ringing, children screaming. Give it a rest.

There was a film many years ago called 'The Ruling Class'. In the film, a man - who believes - (probably falsely) that he is Jesus Christ - becomes the Lord of a large estate in Britain. Nothing unusual there I hear you cry, well apparently his relatives disagreed. They called in a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist suggested that they find another person who also believed he was Christ and put them together in the same room. The two would then realise that logically it was impossible for two people to be Christ and they would both be cured. Incredibly it worked! The Lord decided that obviously, he wasn't Jesus Christ, he must be Jack the Ripper instead. In America when this happens he would be banished to a golf course in Florida. You might think this story is fanciful. My Father (an actual psychiatrist) told me that the film was based on a true story. In real life, both men (of course they were men) just sat at opposite ends of the room, because obviously, the other one was completely mad. You can watch the whole film here: http://bit.ly/TheRulingClass1972. In real life, neither of the men had to go to Florida.

You are splitting hairs, Barry. I don't want to get into a tedious debate about the difference between effects and phenomena. Perhaps I made the wrong choice of word, but my intent was clear. The placebo effect is not a 'positive' state. It is something that is attributed to an outcome when all real-world explanations are ruled out. Doctors do not chat amongst themselves and say "hmm I wish we had some placebo to offer this person". Although there was a Band at the med school I went to that was called 'Placebo' - their music would not have effectively treated anyone. No physicist will say "I can't work out why that happened, it must be electromagnetism!". You are absolutely correct about the psychological effects of confinement in ICU. My daughter is doing her PhD on this topic. She has just published her first paper about it. I'm a little bit proud.

Possibly you are a bit challenged by high-level thinking Mr Willey. OP is making a joke. Obviously. Are you tired?

Or, when they reopen, you could come to any Bridge Club in Sydney. I haven't tried the one's outside Sydney.

You could also change your name so that you will not know who you are. Try RanSweden.

The best thing about America is Freedom of the Press.

Get a friend - or better still an enemy - to change your password.

More of feature than a bug

Extremely helpful. Hmmm, where's my Ben and Jerry's - or will people think that I'm elitist. So Chas could you AT LEAST provide me with a list of food products that are sociologically safe to eat. Do I have to use a spoon? What should it be made of?

Thank you for your helpful reply, Mr Willey. Is 'Bridgewinners' the official spokesperson for the ACBL? When you make statements that purport to be authoritative, please provide an actual reference. This is not an elementary school playground. Your behaviour may be acceptable in your workplace, but it is not acceptable to me. Do you speak this way to everyone?

It is possible that Willey needs to drink some more Pierian spring water. Mr Willey appears to be intoxicated by "shallow draughts". Players play by the rules that are published. Not what Mr Willey thinks they are. The ACBL very carefully defines what a NT bid is - it does NOT include anything about shape.

Good idea, Biden was not my first choice. Anyone else was my first choice - except of course Trump.

It turns out that the concept of all 1NT openings played in ACBL competition is false. Although why should the Forum allow facts to get in the way of a good opinion? I have just looked through the relevant documents on the ACBL website and here is what I discovered: Rules and regulations http://bit.ly/ACBLalert2021 http://bit.ly/ACBLlaws2017 http://bit.ly/ACBLcommentary2017 Commentary updated in 2019 In none of these documents is it stated that a 1NT opening with a particular shape is illegal. Here are some pertinent quotes: "LAW18 A. Proper Form A bid designates a number of odd tricks (tricks in excess of six), from one to seven, and a denomination. (Pass, double and redouble are calls but not bids.)" "Law 40B1 and Law 40B2(a): An opening bid of 1NT and an opening bid of one in a suit, which by partnership agreement could show fewer than 8 high-card points, is designated a special partnership agreement. These two special partnership agreements are disallowed in all ACBL sanctioned events." Nothing about shape here. http://bit.ly/ACBLcharts2020 4. A Natural NT opening bid, as long as it shows at least 10 HCP and the Range is not greater than 5 HCP. Again, nothing about shape. It is possible that some people are confused because of the following information that I found in the Club Directors Handbook. http://bit.ly/ACBLclubHandbook If your notrump opening shows a balanced hand, you may occasionally pick up a hand with a singleton, which you may want to treat as balanced. You may use your bridge judgment to open or overcall a notrump with a singleton, provided that: 1. It is a rare occurrence (no more than 1% of the time) and, 2. Partner expects you to have at least two cards in each suit and, 3. You and your partner have no agreements which enable you to discover that partner has a singleton. What this says is that it is only illegal IF you do it more than 1% of 1NT openings AND if you have an agreement aimed at working out whether or not the hand contains a singleton. NOWHERE in any ACBL documents that I can find does it say: A natural 1NT bid MUST contain etc. I note that the rules were drawn up by the following committee: The Laws Commission of the American Contract Bridge League Chip Martel, Chairman Adam Wildavsky,Vice Chairman Peter Boyd Eric Rodwell Chris Compton Rebecca Rogers Allan Falk Aaron Silverstein Ron Gerard Matt Smith Robb Gordon Roger Stern Al Levy Howard Weinstein Matt Koltnow www.acbl.org/about-acbl/administration/laws-commission/ It appears that the ACBL is systemically misogynistic. As a person who grew up with a wife, two daughters, a mother and three sisters I find it disturbing that the rules are controlled by a small group with only one woman. I'm pretty sure that women also play bridge. It is always my belief that in a situation where two people are arguing and one is a woman, then the woman is more likely to be right. As Tony Fauci said (and any Doctor or person with scientific training will tell you). If you don't know the answer, just say "I don't know". The ACBL also explains what humour is. And I quote: "Humor http://bit.ly/Humour1NT A well-placed laugh can make it easier for your students to learn. It relaxes them and makes them more receptive to new information. The ideal time for a joke is when your class has been working hard and you need to break the tension a bit. In fact, there were a couple of lessons in this series where I found the need to tell TWO jokes. My class was working so hard on learning the new material. Yes, you can tell jokes – even if you've never been able to recall a punch line in the past, (trust me – I know this from personal experience). Write the joke down and review it before you tell it. Soon you will find yourself remembering jokes and being able to tell them in social circles. (I never would have believed it either.) Humor is very personal and a joke that one teacher is comfortable telling would embarrass another teacher, so it is wise to start a collection of jokes. Mark each one when you use it in a particular class. Don't be discouraged if some students find the joke the most important item in your lesson plan. I once had a student request the joke from a missed lesson but not the lesson sheet." So, next time you are concerned about whether or not you are funny, check with the ACBL. Remember though, it is important to collect your jokes and test them on others to make sure that they laugh, and that they DO NOT contain any singletons or voids. At least none that the audience can discover.

So you believe that an elitist is a person that eats expensive ice-cream? OK - that makes sense. I'll keep a lookout sharp for expensive ice-cream eaters. Thanks for the 'hot' tip.

A moment that will live in famy. Watch the House present the article of impeachment to the Senate http://bit.ly/DJTImpeached

Thank you - I always like to know what authorities think.

Well, Somerset Maugham once remarked, "the English have sex on the brain; which is a very uncomfortable place to have it". It doesn't surprise me at all that it took so long to reach it. When I used to watch TV I would often hear the line "Well one thing led to another and blah blah blah" (or yadda yadda yadda for older Americans, or like like for anyone born after 1990). What is this 'one thing' can you buy it from Amazon? Learn about it in books? I suppose if it exists we would have seen bottles of TRUMPonething on the shelves. Get yours in a one-gallon bottle and you can grab as much ... as you like. And people say that fundamentally we are all the same! Well, I think some people might disagree with the idea that fundamentally they the same as Trump, Boris Johnson or Scott Morrison.