Reinke Faces Life

A nonviolent civil disobedience superactivist Lauren Canario has been held for more than 20 days. How can “they ” do that?

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***Begin Quote***

From: Representative Rush Holt [mailto:representative.rush.holt@mail.house.gov]
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: Email from Rep. Rush Holt

Dear Mr. Reinke :

Thank you for writing me regarding our government’s policy on so-called “military tribunals” and the related Hamdan v. Rumsfeld court case on this subject. I appreciate learning your views, and I apologize for the delay in my response.

After the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration’s use of so-called “military tribunals” in the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case in 2006, the administration and the Congress had an opportunity to craft a detainee policy that both protected our country and the principles it stands for. Instead, the Congress passed a deeply flawed piece of legislation-the Military Commissions Act (MCA)- which I opposed.

How true we are to our ideals affects the clarity and decisiveness with which our soldiers can act, the safety of our troops, the motivation of our potential enemies, and the behavior of our actual enemies. The MCA provides protections that are vague, slippery and imprecise. It is subject to interpretation by the President, by the Secretary of Defense, by our commanders in the theaters of operation, by our troops in the field, and by our friends and enemies around the world.

We need a law on detainee treatment that does at least two things. First, i t should provide a clear set of guidelines consistent with American principles-such as in our revised Army Field Manual-that applies to all U.S. Government personnel (including contractors and intelligence agents ) on how to treat prisoners in ways that preserve our principles. That is why I have become a co-sponsor of the Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007 (H.R. 1415) and the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R. 1416). If enacted, these bills would undo the most pernicious and c onstitutionally offensive provisions of the MCA, including the denial of habeus corpus rights to detainees.

Second, any changes to our laws on detainee treatment should include verification mechanisms to monitor how prisoners and detainees are treated. One of those mechanisms is already in use by law enforcement organizations across the country: the videotaping of interrogations.

Videotaping has proven to be extremely effective at preventing not just abuse of detainees but also false allegations of abuse by detainees against their interrogators. The practice aids in interrogation (by allowing linguists and others to review the record) , and it protects all of us-the enforcers, the prosecutors, and the defendants. By not including such a provision in the MCA , the drafters missed a real opportunity to ensure that we prevent serious problems in the future.

In May 2007, I offered an amendment to the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act that would have mandated the videotaping of detainee interrogations after the detainee had been held for seven days or had been transferred to a permanent detention facility. While my amendment did not pass, it garnered 199 bipartisan votes and demonstrated that a near-majority of my colleagues recognize the value of videorecording of interrogations.

Indeed, it may interest you to know that the day after the House voted down my amendment, the Defense Department released a previously classified Inspector General report on detainee treatment in Iraq that was originally sent to the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in August 2006. While portions of this 131 page report remain classified, the conclusions are not:

“(U) Allegations of detainee abuse were not consistently reported, investigated, or managed in an effective, systematic, and timely manner..no single entity within any level of command was aware of the scope and breadth of detainee abuse. policy for and oversight of interrogation procedures were ineffective. As a result, interrogation techniques and procedures used exceeded the limits established in the Army Field Manual 34-52, “Intelligence Interrogation,” September 28, 1992.” ( Report No. 06-INTEL-10 , Review of DoD -Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse (U), August 25, 2006, p. ii.)

You can view the full report at the following URL:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/abus e .pdf , or ask me to mail you a copy.

I will continue to press for mandated video recording of detainee interrogations because I believe doing so would provide critical safeguards for all involved in the process.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

RUSH HOLT

Member of Congress

***End Quote***

Sigh!

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http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2007/10/gallery_instant_housing?slide=2&slideView=3

Slideshow: Instant Housing and Designing for Disaster
By Jenna Wortham
10.22.07 | 12:00 AM

*** begin quote ***

One of the biggest obstacles to emergency-shelter design is finding the right balance between providing a temporary shelter like a tent and working to rebuild permanent homes.

“You can’t design for disaster after the fact,” notes Kate Stohr, co-founder of the nonprofit humanitarian design firm Architecture for Humanity. “Unless it’s strategically thought about in advance of disaster, these ideas don’t work.” Often, what’s needed most is a central station where basic necessities — water, food, medical supplies and information — can be doled out. The trick is to design a transportable, sustainable structure that can support a sizable community and requires little maintenance.

Enter the Clean Hub, a self-sustained, portable machine built into a recycled shipping container. It rolls a power station and water-purification plant into one unit, making it ideal for deployment to any disaster-stricken area lacking basic facilities. Intended more as a base from which to distribute necessities rather than a residential unit, the Clean Hub can provide enough energy, water and sanitation for up to 150 people.

The Hub can be fabricated and shipped anywhere in the world in a few days — and once at its destination, takes less than an hour to erect. Design perks: a V-shaped roof collects rainwater, 16 solar panels generate electricity, and an underground reverse-osmosis filtration system recycles and stores water. When in use, the Hub produces enough compost to sustain a small vegetable garden. Designed by John Dwyer, founder of Shelter Architecture, a Minneapolis-based design studio, the first prototype was built in June 2007 and delivered to New Orleans, where it is currently in use as part of an urban agriculture project.

*** end quote ***

If I was a survivalist and I had my retreat land, I’d be interested in this one since it could be folded up into something that could be locked up and concealed. And, it appears that you could site it without a lot of local help. imho.

There are twelve photos and stories. Each looks “interesting”. Some are easier than others. Looks like you could do “something” for under a thousand dollars. It wouldn’t be the Ritz, but “good enough”.

Certainly a better solution than putting a mobile home on the back of your hummer and pulling it through rioting indigenous sheeple as you good to your “plan b” fallback retreat location.

:-)

from behind the lines in
occupied socialist Nu Jerzee

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102101522_pf.html

From Casinos to Counterterrorism
Las Vegas Surveillance, U.S. Security Efforts Involve Similar Tactics
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; A01

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LAS VEGAS — This city, famous for being America’s playground, has also become its security lab. Like nowhere else in the United States, Las Vegas has embraced the twin trends of data mining and high-tech surveillance, with arguably more cameras per square foot than any airport or sports arena in the country. Even the city’s cabs and monorail have cameras. As the U.S. government ramps up its efforts to forestall terrorist attacks, some privacy advocates view the city as a harbinger of things to come.

***End Quote***

Seems like the gooferment could learn a lot from the casinos. Maybe the casinos should be in charge of the gooferment. At least tyranny would be pleasant?

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For the seretonin rush? I hope to throw the “Hail Mary” pass and radically change my life, from shortages and scarcity to abundance and plenty. Hence, I have some “rules” that I try to abide by.

(1) Don’t chase your losses. What’s gone is theirs.

(2) If you “win”, don’t give it back.

(3) Manage your money — trip limits, session limits, game limits. Frankly any kind of limits I can think off.

(4) Minimize losses; let winning run. (Conflicts with don’t give back!)

(5) Stay calm and unemotional.

(6) The jackpot is NOT on the next spin. Just one more spin. It’s due to hit.

(7) It’s supposed to be “fun”.

(8) Focus on the big hit in the short term; the house edge will break you.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/opinion/22adams.html

Op-Ed Contributor
A Two-Cigarette Society
By DAVID G. ADAMS
Published: October 22, 2007

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WHEN it comes to the health of our children, two cigarettes may be better than one. Young smokers who begin their habit with nicotine-laden cigarettes need a cigarette that will not leave them to later fight the ravages of addiction.

***End Quote***

Sigh. More stupidity!

You can NOT stop people from putting “stuff” into their body.

Forget it. Delete it. Purge the concept from your brain.

We have gotten to the mess we are in by memes (ideas, thinking, concepts) like this.

Leave people alone to make their own decisions about what is best for them.

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Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind

http://www.livescience.com/health/top10_mysteriesofthemind-1.html

***Begin Quote***

Consciousness

Cryonics

Mortality

Genes or environment

Laughter

False memories

Biological clock

Amputee’s leg

Sleep

Dreams

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We see through a dark and cloudy window. A window that we know little about?

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/fireblog

Barona Casino defies evacuation order
12:41 a.m.

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Sheriff’s Lt. Phil Brust said Barona Casino was told to evacuate as part of a mandatory evacuation order given earlier Sunday night for Wildcat Canyon Road.

“They said they would ‘shelter in place’ and did not evacuate,” Brust said.

The casino was not under lockdown and patrons could leave if they chose, he said.

***End Quote***

Now that’s interesting. “Mandatory evacuation” doesn’t apply to a casino.

:-)

I don’t think the men with guns in the gang called “california gooferment” will appreciate that attitude.

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http://www.safehaven.com/article-8633.htm

October 16, 2007
Trading Your Paycheck for a Coin Purse
by The Mogambo Guru

***Begin Quote***

“The damned government has now ruined the money so badly that the little bit of metal in the old coins is now worth more than the face value of the coin, but the government can’t wiggle out of paying for their sins by letting people not pay…taxes!”

JMR Arlo S. was cheery as he sent a link to Rense.com, whereupon one learns that somebody has figured out how to beat the inflationary destruction of the money by the actions and inactions by the Lying, Cheating Government (LCG) and the Lying, Cheating Federal Reserve (LCFR): Use old coins!

The headline was, “IRS Suffers Staggering Defeat”. In short, the guy paid his employees with old silver dimes, silver dollars and old gold U.S. coins according to their face value. Thus, he could pay his workers with silver dimes, silver quarters, silver dollars and gold coins, and thus the employee made so little money (according to the face value of the coins) that they fell below minimum income reporting thresholds, and thus no income tax was due.

Mr. Rense explains, “In other words, if a worker is paid with such coins, his taxable ‘income’ (if any) can only be the face value indicated upon the coin money paid – i.e., $1.00 for a circulating silver dollar or $50 for a circulating gold U.S. coin.”

The government, on the other hand, argued that the market value of those coins made them very valuable, and thus the employees owed taxes on the true value of their coins, not the paltry pittance of the face value. The IRS argued that, “Obviously, a $20 coin made of gold is worth at least $750, which is the market price of gold!”

So, “The essence of the argument is that under the Constitution, Congress is obligated by law to mint and circulate such coins as demand requires, and must establish the value of coins as they are used as legal tender, but the coins’ market value, arising as valuable personal ‘property,’ is a distinct, separate attribute of such coins, and is of no legal consequence if the coins are used as legal tender.” Hahaha! Fabulous!

***End Quote***

This is earth shaking.

It only works for imho American Eagles. Where the Mint has put a dollar value unrelated to the underlying value of the coin.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/american_eagles/index.cfm?Action=american_eagle_gold

So one buys American Eagle coins and gives them as a gift or trade. For tax reporting purposes, each coin is Fifty Dollars; not their value of $750 dollars.

A great tax dodge!

While the cited case is used to bypass the income tax laws, I’m always interested in getting around the gift tax limits (i.e., the 12k limit).

By extension:

Silver Eagle = 1 dollar = 13.49 market value = 161,880 gift value
Gold Eagle = 50 dollars = 763.80 market value = 4,582,800 gift value
Platinum Eagle = 100 dollars = 1441.00 market value = 172,920 gift value

Now, I’m neither a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or indian chief; nor do I play one on TV. But, I bet that they have just nuked the “gift taxes”.

I don’t think it will be long before the change the law, rules, and the coins.

But till then, it seems like there is a big hole you can drive a truck thru.

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UPDATE: To all my sharp eyed readers out there. (Zero) My fingers left contact with my brain when I wrote this. The correct number is $183,312.

It doesn’t invalidate the premise since I don’t know too many people who can give away 182k. What it does mean is that the 12k gift limit is temporarily in limbo!

If I had an elderly relative, then some specific planning might be in order.

imho!

NOTE: My usual disclaimer applies. I am not a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or indian chief. Nor do I play one on TV. And, I haven’t stayed in a holiday inn express in recent memory.

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http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/#mea=168805

*** begin quote ***

Jay’s Monologue 10/16
A gift for Ann Coulter

*** end quote ***

Now I like Jay Leno. But here’s an example of how the “old media” doesn’t get it.

First there’s a commercial for Intel. OK, have to pay for the clip, storage, and transmission. Then, 90 seconds of snips from his monologue.

Note that the teaser doesn’t say “part of”, or “excerpts from”. It says “jay’s monologue”.

Argh!

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Do they think they are fooling people or that we are stupid?

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The Yankees top brass are brass monkeys!

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http://sports.myway.com/news/10172007/v5081.html

Wahoo! Indians Move to Cusp of World Series With 7-3 Win Over Red Sox
Oct 17, 1:29 AM (ET)
By TOM WITHERS

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CLEVELAND (AP) -Hang tight, Colorado Rockies. There’s another team roaring through October.

And you just might see them in the World Series.

The Cleveland Indians, relying on a throwback pitcher who looks as if he stepped out of their 1948 team photo, moved one win from another crack at winning an elusive championship.

Pumping his arms with an old-school windup, Paul Byrd blanked Boston long enough and Casey Blake homered to start Cleveland’s seven-run rampage in the fifth inning as the Indians beat the Red Sox 7-3 Tuesday night for a 3-1 lead in the AL championship series.

***End Quote***

Does anyone think that the guy’s balking when he throws? It’s like a HUGE advantage over the hitters.

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AP Exlusive: ‘Dear Abby’ announces support of same-sex marriage – Examiner.com

*** begin quote ***
What Jeanne Phillips, aka Abigail Van Buren, finds offensive – not to mention of dubious intelligence – are homophobic jokes, phrases like “That’s so gay,” and parents who reject
*** end quote ***What I found interesting is that it’s not your grandmother’s “dear abby”.

It’s sort of a modest fraud upon the reader. The column reveals later on that for five years the daughter has been writing it. And, with ghost writers, who knows who’s advice people have been getting. I do know that growing up, my grandmother and my aunt would discuss “Dear Abby’s” advice. They usually disagreed and were much more blunt about it. They had little tolerance for “scatter brained women” or “undisciplined men”. I think they’d have been like Judge Judy on steroids in this day and age.

In any event it’s a cultural icon that has been modernized.

Wonder what the original would have said. I know what my grandmother would have said: MYOB! And, my aunt would have chimed in with “why do i have to pay for it”.

So, I’ll MYOB and ask “why do i have to pay for gooferment to be involved in marriage”? Hopefully, I’m not “undisciplined” about these actions.

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I thought that title would get your ‘attention’. This is my second post to John’s blog, he gave me authorship privileges to write ‘one’ article a couple of weeks ago, and now here I am putting another post on his blog! (I may lose my ‘interim’ author privileges, eh?) Well here goes…my late father wrote some memoirs before he died, and in those he wrote a piece about how he won on the roulette tables. Not always win he said, but more often than not. He looked at the roulette wheel as a circle, with various ‘arcs’ within it. I believe he had memorized the position of the numbers on the wheel, or maybe he carried a picture like the one below with him.

His ‘process’ was to look at the previous numbers that had ‘hit’ on a wheel (all casinos display them as a list…probably about the last 20 spins I believe). He would look for ‘patterns’ in the hits, ie, an abundance of numbers hitting that fell into a particular ‘arc’ of the wheel. In other words, take the picture below and assume the roulette wheel is a clock. Divide the clock into four sections, e.g., 12 – 3 o’clock, 3 – 6 o’clock, 6 – 9, and 9 -12. He would look at the list of the previous displayed hits on the wheel, and on some roulette tables he noticed that the most frequent numbers that hit fell into one of these four arcs, at least more times than the other arcs of the wheel. So on that roulette table, he would then place his bets on the nine or ten numbers (1/4 of the possible 38 numbers) that are located in that arc. For example, let’s say most of the numbers that had been hitting were numbers in the ‘6 – 9 o’clock’ section of the wheel. Looking in the sample wheel below, those numbers would be: 6, 10, 31, 19, 8, 12, 29, 25, 10, and 27.

Now if you follow his logic, it would imply that certain roulette tables have wheels that are slightly off-level, or for some reason have a tendency for numbers to land in a particular arc of the wheel. They are probably manufactured such that this is supposed to be an impossibility, but who knows….I know it worked for my dad, maybe it was the humidity of the room and its affect on those wheels, or some other phenomena like that…or maybe it was because this was over 15 years ago and they didn’t have the technology to make wheels like they do today. I also must confess I haven’t tried this yet, but I will on my next trip to a casino, and then I will let you know!

Image above compliments of: http://www.ds.unifi.it/VL/VL_EN/games/games5.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSKLR22737320071002?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Beyonce dumps Malaysia show to avoid Muslim outcry
Tue Oct 2, 2007 1:43am EDT

***Begin Quote***

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – U.S. R&B star Beyonce Knowles has axed her debut concert in Malaysia in protest against the nation’s ultra-strict dress code and over fears of a Muslim outcry over her show, an industry source said on Tuesday.

***End Quote***

While they are oppressing their people and our visitors, then they can’t be busy making other mischief. It should be a wake up to the women in our country of just how oppressive “religion” can be.

Hey, it’s freedom of religion for everyone to be free from the religion of others!

When I see women in this country dressed in Muslim attire, I just shake my head. Of course, they can do whatever they want. But, I wonder how much is their own free choice.

We need every person in this country “working” on what they see as their best interest. We don’t need to shackle a portion of “our” productive brains. That’s why irrational discrimination is wrong. It hurts the bigot, the victim, and us in general as a civil society.

So, I think this is a perfect issue for the feminists and libertarians.

And, you know these nuts jobs have a Playboy or two hidden away.

So they are sexists and hypocrites. Probably a lot of other ists and ites as well.

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Now I am not turning to the “dark side” but … …

I find it interesting that people “forget” their casino loyalty cards. The leave the inadvertently in the machines when they finish playing. Could it be NOT an oversight but an attempt to capture other people’s play to their benefit. So while one would assume that the majority is “forgetful” and the minority is “capturing”. It mildly annoys me. OTOH is there any benefit in “collecting” these “misplaced” cards?

As an airplane exercise, sitting in the plane — or somewhere else — with nothing better to do, I brainstormed:

(1) An AC’s Borgata black card can let you use the short lines. No one says you can’t say pay cash for your buffet, but just get to the food faster, like a true black card player. I’ve never seen any one check. (This idea comes from the fact that once I was cut out of line as a black card holder when the hostess spotted another card that looked “black”.)

(2) At AC’s Showboat, you have to show an upgraded card to use the casino valet at certain times.

(3) At AC’s Borgata, if you can guess someone’s pin (a four digit number — ten thousand tries?), you could use their slot dollars and win money.

(4) At LV’s Station Casinos, just having the card gets you some discounts.

Just some thoughts.

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http://glcavalier.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/my-life-list/

September 28, 2007
My Life List
Posted by G. Lane Cavalier under Lagniappe , Life

*** begin quote ***

a life list is basically a checklist of things you want to do or places to visit before you die.

*** end quote ***

So suitable emboldened by GLaneC posting his list, I’ll share mine.

*** Begin My Re-Focus List ***

Re-focus-ing
planning

0. Investing
** achieve critical mass
** d2z protection
** insure next gen success
** spawn bizs
** nh?

1. consulting
** ita
** bpr
** sec

2. coaching
** jobsearch
** career management

3. coding
** ruby
** emulators

4. teaching
** edu
** sub-edu
** trade

5. writing
** fiction
*** ita
*** planning
** nonfict
*** mva
*** wolves
*** others

6. inventing
** calc
** grocery
** car util

7. learning
** spanish
** german
** juggle
** memory
** great books / western world

9. ToDos
** drive to biloxi and stop at all the tourist spots.
** biloxi davis library
** krosskountry
** alaska
** run a marathon
** dc art
** minor ball parks
** turtles grand cayman
** rt 80 15inch sign
** williamsport
** directory of shrines
** visit presidents
** every country
** habitat
** appliachian trail
** read foxfire
** route 66
** pan for gold out west
** drive route 1 end to end
** visit all us casinos
** list of national parks & see them
** write my books
** vatican
** paris
** thailand
** travel book
** fire the auto
** shoot often

*** End My Re-Focus List ***

IMHO everyone should have one.

:-)

How much I’ll get done I don’t know. But I have my list!

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Lesson Learned: Casino loyalty card need a pin that one can remember. Use the card number!

Those casino loyalty card are really meaningless. I’m not sure if the staff can see the pin, but under no circumstances should you use your bank pin. Or, one used with anything important. So, I suggest that you use the first four digits or the last four digits.

Who cares?

You’ll never forget it. Because the card carries its own pin for you. Just don’t tell anyone and it’ll be fine. And, if someone guess, so what?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_it_ride

http://wizardofodds.com/letitride

Assuming that you know the game, (if not read the two cited webpages, play it a few times, and come back), here’s my current money management strategy at LIR.

All my money management strategies at gambling are focused on (1) minimizing losses; (2) capturing winnings; and (3) letting good luck play itself out.

(If you breezed by my three points, then please return and consider them carefully. I’ve paid a lot of “tuition” for that meme.)

—

SETUP

Assume one is at a 10$ table, with the standard three circles, a 1$ bonus, and a 5$ side bet.

Back in my area, I align three general areas: the wall, the last bet, and the bank.

My initial bet is: 1$ for the bonus, 5$ for the side bet, and 3 stacks of 10$ for a total of $36.

The wall is composed of four stacks of replacements for routine play. They are each: 1$ for the bonus, 5$ for the side bet, and 10$ for the circle. That’s a stack total of $16. Four times that is 64$.

My final bet area is for my last bet. (Then, I say bye! And count my losses. Or more rarely, my winnings.) That final bet is: 1$ for the bonus, 5$ for the side bet, and 3 stacks of 20$ for a total of $66.

(So, with two exceptions, my maximum loss is $36+64+66=166. If I want to risk more, I add stacks to the wall in increments of $16.)

—

Operation

I play hands as does any other player. I lose mostly, but some times I win. Losing I just repopulate the betting area from my wall. Winning, I rebuild the wall. When the wall is gone, it’s time for the final (double) bet. If I lose I quit. Any time I win, I just rebuild the wall. If at anytime the wall is FULL, then all the remaining chips won move to the bank. If I can’t rebuild a whole stack from winnings, the change sits by the wall for dollar bonus bets or to combine with another small win to build a stack.

Wins on the bonus or the side bet go directly to the bank.

With one minor and one major exception, money only flows INTO the bank. Never out of it.

(This prevents the all too often seen phenom of playing all your winnings back to the house. That’s why I detest — what I call — the muck strategy of money management — where players keep all their chips neatly stacked in front of them. Add their winnings and quit when they have no more chips to play. Argh!)

The minor exception is sometimes that dollar bonus will draw out a five out of the bank to top off winnings on the wall. In general, that doesn’t happen to often.

The major exception is low pairs. I will LIR on the first circle with a low pair, possible straight flush, or possible royal flush.

—

Explanation

When I play LIR, the top three values can’t be won with all three stacks without taking some extra risk. The low pair is the common problem. If you are dealt a low pair in your three cards, what do you do? If you pull back your first circle bet, then you can never get paid for three circles if you have four of a kind where you have a low pair and the dealer has the matching low pair. Granted not a high probability, but it happens more often then you think. (I’ve caught it four times in my playing time.) Clearly if you have winning high pair or trips, there’s no decision. It’s that pesky low pair, for which I make a major exception. I WILL take chips from the bank to play the low pair. Similarly, for a three card potential straight flush or royal flush, I will do the same thing. But, I can only think of that happening once.

I pay to play that low pair out of the bank when I lose so that I don’t get cold feet and / or play a hunch.

Also notice, I NEVER chase a straight, flush or three money cards with that first circle like many players do. I also don’t guess or play hunches. (I’m a notoriously bad guesser.) I usually don’t chase them with the second circle either!

When the deal turns his first card, if it doesn’t give my low pair trips, then I pull the second circle bet. (If the dealer has the answer to my prayers — my matching pair, the first turned card must give me trips. Then, I LIR the second circle and the only question is if I get the fourth one. Notice my trips will be paid with three circles; not the usual two that other players get.) Similarly, if I am chasing a straight flush or a royal flush, the dealer’s first turned car must help for me to LIR the second circle. I don’t get that happening often.

Lest, it seem all glum. I have caught trips several times on the second dealer card. Or had the dealer pair his two cards but not match my pair. The payoff for two circles by two pair gives a nice payback for all the bad chases.

—

Conclusion

I play to win big, lose little, and never give anything back. I chase low pairs but not much else. I use the bank to prevent giving back my winnings.

Questions?

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On the trip, I read a political thriller “Act of Treason” by Vince Flynn. It held my attention for the trip. So that per se is an endorsement. I was surprised to find a typo — yes me the “spel lik injineer” guy finding typos. I guess because it had a computing crypto component, I was reading carefully. Here it is.

Page 435!

“It’s near real time not absolute neat time”

The line should have been “absolute REAL time”.

I was pretty pleased with myself.

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I am just coming off a week of enforced “radio silence”. It felt strange. Like I had lost a large part of my mind. I had many interesting things happening and no place to record them. A pad of yellow paper is no substitute for a keyboard and this podium. Over the coming week as work, time, and attention permit, I’ll try to transcribe the ramblings of the “crazy man” in the electronic isolation booth.

An electronic version of a “sensory deprivation” tank?

I have eleven pages of notes. I’m not sure that all of it will make it to the keyboard. A whine looses something after it ages. Also, not being “in the moment” means the subtle details are lost. The mind plays funny tricks with what it chooses to remember. It’s probably the Intelligent Designer’s gift to us that failures are forgotten and successes are remembers.

I’m in the process of doing my after action “lessons learned”. And, boy, do I have a lot of “learning” from this trip to do!!

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http://www.smartmoney.com/invisiblehand/index.cfm?story=20070912&hpadref=1&pgnum=2

The Invisible Hand
Retired Doctor Devises Plan to Cure Health Care
By Igor Greenwald |Igor Greenwald Archive |Published: September 12, 2007

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Fogoros serves up something like a layer cake: at the bottom, a sizable self-financed health savings account (with the government subsidizing the contribution on a sliding scale for the poor). Any money that’s not used up could be saved toward retirement or allocated toward optional insurance.

Those who’ve exhausted their health account would be entitled to a share of the rationed health-care pool. Treatments would be covered or not based on a cost-benefit analysis treating each human being as equally valuable but seeking to equalize the opportunities for a healthy life over time. So a quadriplegic’s life would be deemed no less valuable than anyone else’s, but at the same time young patients would get some preference over the old who’ve already lived it up. Patients with greater odds of being helped would also gain priority. This sounds like common sense, even if it’s common sense we would prefer not to exercise at the moment.

Beyond rationed care, the rich would remain free to bankroll the many fanciful treatment alternatives, doubling as guinea pigs for the rationed system that would look to adopt the most cost-effective advances. Fogoros understands that the public debates about what to pay for could get quite awkward, and the system, any system, can and will be gamed. But he’s right to argue that this will still improve on the mess we’ve got.

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At the very least, it would seem that we could end the distortion from the WW2 Wage and Price controls. At that time, since wages were frozen, businesses were allowed to give “benefits” that didn’t count towards the “controls”. That’s where we got into the whole insurance mess. We allowed the gooferment to put us into a meme that allows businesses to deduct healthcare expense but individuals are not. At the very least, we should level the playing field. My preference would be to get the businesses out of involvement with my healthcare. Having been in my own business, I was allowed to deduct my healthcare insurance cost. Love it. I think when the marketplace “figures it out”, we will become a nation of contractors. Cheaper for businesses and better for individuals.

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http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13031

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Katie McGuire of the American Red Cross said the growing list of restrictions has created extra challenges in recruiting volunteers. This summer, the organization raffled American Idol concert tickets and collaborated with sports teams in attempts to attract younger donors, particularly as usually avid baby-boomer donors slip into poor health.

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Ahh, like my prior discussions of “spare parts”, it seems “sinful” to not give the gift of life.

Perhaps, the American Red Cross could think of ways to make it “fun” and appeal to everyone’s innate pride and generosity. It would be nice if it was easy to keep score. In my time on the planet, I know I’ve given more than gallon. I always tell my favorite college story of the good Brother who encouraged me to give blood for the first time with the exhortation, “you’re probably not too stupid to bleed right”. I would say “don’t take your spare parts with you”. I carry and organ donation card and have told Frau Reinke and anyone who would listen that “spare parts” should be recycled. My only concern with all methods of remains disposal is that we get the spare parts that others may need to them.

Like giving blood, there is no simpler act of kindness to another human being that to donate.

Now it is true, I’d like to see a free market in body parts, fluids, and everything. But that’s the Libertarian in me, trying to address the shortage of organs for transplants. I know that if there was a marketplace, then we would have ZERO shortages. The market would always clear. Paying money to bury or burn a perfectly useful object, to me, seems to be the height of selfishness. It can’t be used by its owner anymore, it has no substitute, and it’s going to spoil. So fill out your organ donation card and give blood. I assure you it won’t hurt a bit. Alright maybe a little bit, but you’re an adult. And they’ll give you a lollypop. And Kool sticker to wear.

And when you run in to that good Brother at Saint Peter’s check in desk, (he’ll be on staff there because he was great at recording all the minuses and the occasional rare plus), you can tell him that you weren’t too stupid to “bleed” or “donate an organ” before you left.

And if you don’t believe the heaven / hell myths, how about “karma”?

And if you believe in nothing, what if you’re wrong? Even BlackJack players sometimes take out insurance.

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http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=25171

Based on my readings of Edward De Bono, I really began to grok:

* paradigm (a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated; broadly : a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind )

* perception (how our hardware influences our software to fool us)

AND

* meme (a convenient way of discussing “a piece of thought copied from person to person”)

Here’s an excellent example of how our hardware fools our software into thinking that is “wrong”.

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http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/09/colin-powell-te.html

Colin Powell: Terrorists are not greatest threat to nation

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Powellingq In an interview with GQ magazine that’s scheduled to be put online here at 11 a.m. ET, former secretary of State and one-time potential presidential candidate Colin Powell has this to say about terrorism and the threat it poses to the USA:

“What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it’s terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?”

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OK, let’s get back to the America of our forefathers. (1) Honest money. (2) End gooferment welfare. (3) End the phony “War on Drugs”. (4) End gooferment education. In my lifetime, please.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=301474

ESPN is reporting that the fellow who was badly hurt this weekend, in a clean football play, is doing better. Silent prayers answered!

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