pbleighton

"Thought I read somewhere that more than 50% of the USA does not pay any income taxes." Then, from your link, "Adding to this figure the 15 million households and individuals who file no tax return at all, roughly 121 million Americans—or 41 percent of the U.S. population—will be completely outside the federal income tax system in 2006." I think remedial math courses for the mature individual would be a great use of tax dollars :D Peter

3H. Peter

"Thought I read somewhere that more than 50% of the USA does not pay any income taxes." Source? Peter

"Ya I confuse easy, I thought this thread was called the middle east too." Well, I thought that this: "If only the neocons...conned us into war ok" was a reference to Iraq, and this: Where is the middle, where is the left? How many against Afghanistan in 2001? how many in 2007?" was about Afghanistan. But the one is right after the other, so it seems like you are talking about the same war! Pardon my confusion :D Peter

"The flat tax is a horrible idea, as are most 'simple' solutions to complex problems. It may end up being a better idea than the current system, whether it be US or Canadian (we have our own complexities and boondoggles as will be apparent to anyone who tries to read the Act), but it is still a horrible idea if there is no element of increasing rates on increasing income." Very large personal and dependent exemptions accomplish the same thing. In fact, properly structured, the majority of households will pay no income tax. Peter

1NT wouldn't be my call with a king and an ace, but no big deal. 4H is clear now, you have the absolute max for your bid. Peter

I'm in favor of a high flat rate (say 40%), no deductions, and high personal and dependent deductions, say $20,000 for a single and $40,000 for a married couple, plus $7,000 per dependent. I'd also eliminate the Social Security/Medicare payroll taxes, and the corporate income tax, and replace them with a 20% VAT. These particular numbers undoubtedly don't add up, but something along these lines will. Peter

I agree with Justin, I don' think they psyched. Pass. 3NT is tempting, but will probably go down. Peter

Mike, do you deliberately confuse Iraq and Afghanistan, or are you merely confused? :P Peter

I double with 13/good 12 with both majors. As to overcalling with a 4 card suit at the one level, in one partnership I need a great suit, in my other partnership I'll overcall with Qxxx. Peter

Richard: Playing Lionel against a weak NT: What do you do with 16+ flat, 4441, or single-suited minor hands? On Gerben's page he describes X as either spades and another or a very strong hand. Are the other bids capped? What do you do after X with some clubs? How strong do you have to be to X, and how strong to leave an X in with a misfit? Peter

"Don't most modern American hotels have Wi-Fi anyway?" Yes, and sometimes it even works. Peter

"The rule is, if it's in the GCC, clubs have to allow it (with a few exceptions, like 0-20 MP games)." I don't think this is true. Clubs can do anyting they like. They can require SAYC or ACOL for all pairs, or allow forcing pass systems. Sectional and regionals do have to allow everything that's legal in the GCC. The BBO ACBL tourneys have the GCC as the CoC, so they should allow all GCC-compliant bids, and disallow all which are not compliant. If they want to do a GCC plus approach, where certain non compliant bids are permitted, they should amend and publish the CoC. Peter

1. 3S is fine, even red, because of the diamond void. 2. Now I pass. Peter

I don't know, but I suspect it's lead a heart. Without a firm agreement, this is a stupid bid. Petre

I haven't read Dawkins. I read Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian" almost 40 years ago, and it seemed to me to be conclusive. I recommend it highly. Russell was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, was one of the inventors of the modern Analytic school of philosophy, and won the Nobel Prize in literature. His Autobiography is awesome. Peter

FWIW, I've played 14-16, and it seemed much more like a strong NT to me. Peter

"I'll give this some thought. Right now our methods (Capp) are the same over both weak and strong NT. I can easily believe that isn't optimal." I've played a lot of weak NT (though not as much as Ron, the Ancient Mariner of aggressive bidding ;) ), and an approximately equal amount of strong NT. I've also played Capp, as a concession to partner. Capp isn't optimal over either, but I think it's much worse over a strong NT. IMO you need a double to show big flat hands against weak NT. At least Capp gets that right. DONT and similar methods are just horrible against weak NT. Natural bidding is better than Capp over a weak NT. I completely agree with Ron about the need to bid constructively over weak NT. Peter

"If the researchers are correct, it is not a phase in society's development" Huge if. The study of correlations between physical facts and mental and emotional outlook is in its very early infancy. OTOH, the continuing decline of religion in advanced industrialized countries is well documented. I saw figures a few years back that put weekly church attendance among under-40 citizens of many Western European countries at under 10%, and Japan at 3%. It's around 40% in the U.S. (the second highest after Ireland), to some extent artifically inflated by the much higher levels of attendance by first and second generation immigrants from Third World countries. It's quite possible that religion will be around indefinitely, given the remarkable range of opinions held on any subject by people. However, given the trend in the West since the Enlightenment, I'd give very high odds in a (by definition uncollectable) bet that 500 years from now, most people will be either atheist, agnostic, or some type of Unitarian, non-denominational non-religion religion. But who knows. Maybe the earth will be hit by a giant asteroid, and the survivors will have to find a reason why, and church attendance will surge, like troop levels in Iraq ;) Peter

I think I would bid 3H instead of 2H, but it's close. Some days I'd bid 2H. It's also a close accept of 3H, given that the stiff is in pd's suit. Don't worry about it. Peter

Ben: Does a rebid of 2S promise more than minimum playing strength for you? 2S for me just shows 6 cards. Peter

You're playing 2/1 with moderately light openings. You open virtually every 12 count, and the majority of unbalanced 11 counts, but you routinely pass 11 counts which meet Rule of 20 but which don't look right. Teams, unfavorable, you hold Ax-A10xx-xxxx-xxx. The bidding goes: 1S(partner)-P-1NT-2D-2S-P-P-3D-P(15-20 second hesitation)-P-? 1. Do you agree with the second round pass? 2. What would you do now? Would it be different if you weren't vulnerable? 3. If you would bid, given the hesitation by pd, is it clear enough that you wouldn't feel barred? Peter

"In the world of evolutionary biology, the question is not whether God exists but why we believe in him. Is belief a helpful adaptation or an evolutionary accident?" You left out "a phase in society's development" :P Peter

When I opened 1D, I said to myself that the hand was an 18 count. Why should I change my mind now? 2NT. Peter

5D. Peter