shyams

You are right, of course. My fault entirely for raising this topic. Thank you for clarifying.... much appreciated.

IMO, we are getting distracted by South and South's actions. This has nothing to do with North's decision. North is GIB - we are told, GIB does not use human logic for decision-making. Instead it deals a sample list of hands that fit the bidding so far, then decides a course of action. In that case, my point is quite clear. In order for North to justify its 6♠ bid, its sample should have hands where 13 is not a logical outcome. How many hands can be randomly dealt where GIB finds it cannot make 13 tricks?

I disagree that South has enough information to bid a grand slam. I can only count 11 or 12 tricks from the South side. Even if hearts are pulled in for 5, I might still have a diamond loser. As far as North is concerned, South has shown: ♦A, ♥A, ♥K, ♠K, and a 4-5-x-x (OR 4-6-x-x) distribution. My point was simple: How often (out of 50 or 100 sample deals) will GIB find a hand that yield only 12 tricks instead of all 13 tricks? If GIB uses deal sampling to make decisions, this hand is a test for its ability to rely on the outcome of such sampling.

I believe the EU never expressed a desire for in-country enforcement/prosecution for non-use of metric. Obviously, cross-country trade was required to operate on a metric system for "harmonisation" purposes. The idea of prosecuting anybody was a UK Govt idea (probably with the hope that fear of prosecution will expedite adoption of metric). When there was a backlash in the media, the UK Govt spinelessly pointed in the direction of the EU saying "not me, Guv".

Link to hand: http://tinyurl.com/hm8w4ma Note: Despite the diagram showing me as North, this is a "human declares" tournament. I was South, switched to North for the play of the hand. I assume GIB deals sample hands at each stage that match the bidding to date. If so, how many "sample hands" can GIB deal where it fails to count 13 cold tricks as North? There are 13 cold tricks in almost all configurations. Even a 4-0 split with West holding all trumps is not fatal. In essence, we are talking about fewer than 1 in 50 "sample deals" where the grand will fail whereas in all others, 7♠ is cold. The reason for my post is to get a sense (if possible) as to why GIB would not consider bidding a grand slam here.

I sense that Mrs May just had a first-hand experience of the unimaginable challenges her government faces in trying to retain unrestricted access to EU markets. Despite the official stance that today's meeting with Chancellor Merkel did not include any "negotiations", it seems likely that UK was told in no uncertain terms that access to markets is predicated on access to free movement. Mrs May is now caught between a rock and a hard place! I see no realistic way for the UK to turn its back on EU trade without seriously damaging the UK economy. At the same time, I see no realistic prospects of a Tory government being re-elected into power if they cannot "keep out the immigrants". In essence, Mrs May has to choose between: (A) Allow free movement & ensure Tories lose in 2020 vs. (B) Allow the economy to be hurt & hope to stay in power till 2025! Let the fun times roll!

I never figured out why I like Dido's songs. Here's one I am listening right now: White Flag (Dido):

I loved how the American press made a fool of Boris yesterday. John Kerry was actually forced to rescue Boris... Well done, US Press.

Does her speech really matter? Melania will (technically) play no role in administration, if Trump were to become president. What she says is IMO irrelevant to the outcome of the elections.

If it is already used (although in a limited way), perhaps it can also be made available along the lines suggested by the OP. I like the idea of independent clocks for the two sides that add up to the overall round time.

Mods, pretty please?

I can upvote this only once. So I am +1 'ing it here for additional oomph. Hope others join in as well!

Probably a great hand to conduct a sim? I voted ♥ but I now feel that at MPs it's perhaps higher risk than I previously thought.

Seriously?!?! You don't see the logical dissonance between this post and your opening post? If the answer to the "2 kids/ boy girl puzzle" is 2:1 for the second child to be the opposite sex, why is the answer to "2 missing honors/ left right puzzle" not 2:1 for the missing honor in the opposite hand?

BTW, what is Capitalism in the view of Republican Americans? And does this Republican view differ from that of the "Tea Party"?

Two puzzles for spisu (and spisu alone) to answer: 1. You run into a familiar person one day. The only think you know about this person is that he has two children (but you have no idea how many of them are boys vs. girls). ....So this person says "Hello" etc, and then points to the child walking with him saying "This is my son". ....What is the probability that his other child is also a boy? 2. If #1 was hard, here is an easier one. Why is cow's poop usually in the form of a "patty", goat's poop usually tiny spheres, and human poop usually somewhat cylindrical?

I haven't yet installed the new version. However, upon reviewing the previous comments, I have a question about GPS. I usually restrict my mobile GPS access --- I don't even allow Google to track me via GPS. Will that be a problem in using the new version of BBO Mobile?

A friend from college days has indicated a strong desire to resume playing bridge (in his case, after a gap of over two decades). When we were in college, we used to play Precision and my friend's desire is to restart with the same system -- he says he still has handwritten notes from back then! Although I don't mind re-immersing myself into Precision, I recall a few issues with our version of Precision that used to annoy me: I did not fancy playing a 13-15 1NT opening, which was a part of our Precision. I used to really hate the 2♦ opening meant for a 4-4-1-4 type hand with splinter diamond. Although we were happy with relays after a 1♣ opening, we found that when we adopted all complicated relays the probability of bidding misunderstandings increased rapidly. I am sure Precision theory has changed materially in the last few decades. I'd really appreciate if people can point me to suitable systems that can solve some/all of my concerns. I'm also looking for help with recommended books/websites that can help us with Precision bidding. Any advice welcome....

A sincere question: Why does the European Parliament operate from both Strasbourg and Brussels? Why does it not choose one location (logically, Brussels) and conduct all its business from there?

Agree. However, a small matter that makes a sizable difference. Boris will not be responsible for dealing with the EU and the Brexit negotiations --- i.e. a much diminished foreign secretary role mostly aimed at promoting UK's relations with the US, Asia, Middle East and Africa.

If I held the East hand, I'd also bid like this. And we'd reach an unfortunate 4♠ However, if I held the West hand, I might (not saying will) raise 3♥ to 4♥ instead of bidding 3NT.

She starts the conversation with "I don't want this to be 'Andrea has children, Theresa hasn't' because I think that would be really horrible but...." and then goes on to say nasty things. Does she really believe that the preamble to her nasty remarks absolves her of the nastiness??? Outrageous!

Just heard the audio recording which was aired on Sky News. Andrea Leadsom comes across as a horrible person, and clearly made pointed references to Theresa May's childlessness. Petty, crude.... and indications of a narrow-minded person. Not my leader!

Sigh! I waste too much time on this thread...

Does it matter more that Juncker is rude than that Juncker is correct? This is a critical time in the destiny of the UK, but I wonder if we Brits are ever going to rise above petty squabbles. As an example, the consensus of economists is that GBP:USD will reach 1.20 in a few months. And unless the UK does something positive, it could drift lower instead of rebounding. Yet, every day we are told by the media that we broke a 31-year record etc instead of having economists on TV who can tell the audience "get used to it" The probability of a recession (be it a shallow or a prolonged one) are quite considerable. And while monetary policy has already stepped up to face the challenge, fiscal loosening is not yet in sight. Although the Chancellor has said all the right things, the news cycles focused on him "breaking the borrowing rule" rather than "making really meaningful announcements". And there is no guarantee that the next Prime Minister/Chancellor will not revert to "zero deficit" goal. Regardless of the political merits/demerits of the Chancellor, he and the BoE Governor are a formidable team who can easily do many right things that will help the economy in the long run. However, it is quite possible that the Chancellor will be fired once the next Prime Minister arrives. This, in turn, could lead to the premature departure of the BoE Governor, Mark Carney. Most Brits do not track Gilt yields; they are at historical lows. The UK Govt can borrow 10-year funds at <0.8% and 30-year funds at <1.6%!!. This is an outright winning opportunity for the UK Government to borrow heavily in order to invest in infrastructure (and note NHS is not really infrastructure because any rise in NHS costs is typically 'revenue expenditure', not 'capital expenditure') However, should the UK Govt decide to launch/approve infrastructure programmes, all sorts of experts will creep out of the woodwork to denounce the specific projects. We will definitely find a way to stop (i) Heathrow Expansion, (ii) HS2, (iii) Hinckley Nuclear Power, etc. Any of the following will attract huge objections from the NIMBY crowd: new roads, airports, council housing (to hold), rail networks, offshore oil exploration. But if the Govt recklessly invested in 100,000 more nurses, doctors, school teachers etc. everyone will think it's a great investment?! The USA did a "cash-for-clunkers" programme to rid some of the older vehicles off the road. Yesterday, the London Mayor proposed a similar scheme to improve air quality in London. What are the chances of it being adopted by the UK Govt? Zero! Because the idea originated from a Labour guy. Yes! Juncker may be an idiot, but the substance of his message is not entirely wrong. We don't have a plan to be on our own, and the people who got us here are all running away or are paralysed into inaction.