Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Classical Age, 500 BC - 1 AD

This is Herodotus, the Father of History. He lived in the first century of this age. His book's theme was the first major clash of civilizations from Europe versus Asia. This theme served as a backbone. He added ribs and bone to form what amounted to a general history of the world to his time. As one reads his book, one can ponder what lay just ahead.

The next centuries would bring Alexander the Great, the conquest of Persia and Egypt and the spread of Greek civilization to the borders of India and China. To the west, Rome rose in Italy and Carthage in north Africa.

The last century of this age saw Rome rise to the status of super-power in the Mediterranean world.

This was the age of the great classic writers of ancient history. Phoenician explorers circumnavigated Africa. The seven wonders of the ancient world were identified and described.

And Herodotus traveled, measured, chronicled, and pondered just how many ages had preceded his own.



Previous AgeMaster ListNext Age

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Iron Age, 1000 - 500 BC

As iron spread through the civilized world, activity in and among civilizations leveled up. China acquired iron around 600 BC.

In the first century of this age, Kings David and Solomon ruled Israel. Just to the NW, the Phoenicians ranged throughout the Mediterranean. India adopted the caste system. In Mexico, the Olmecs, still in the Stone Age, produced giant heads 9 feet high.

During this age, Assyria revived its super-power status and the Middle East remained as the foremost area of civilization. Its reach activated a coalition of enemies who destroyed it by 600. To the west, the Greeks rose to major-power status. During this period they established colonies around the Agean Sea and west to Sicily and Italy. Athens experimented with democracy.

New: Carthage and Rome were founded in this age. Old: China regressed to a feudal society. The collapse of Assyria brought Egypt a twilight glow of prosperity before the Persians came.

At the end of this age, Confucius was alive in China and Buddha was alive in India. Zoroaster lived sometime during this age.



Previous AgeMaster ListNext Age

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Will 1/27/09

Grand, Yes. Bargain, No.


My take on George Will's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: Obama's "Fiscal Responsibility Summit" is starting to look like a giant spending spree. Will's example of "mission creep" is the recent House passage of the SCHIP program. In 2007 Bush called for a $5 billion increase. Democrats in the House passed $50 billion increase. The Senate compromised at $35 billion. This year the House just doubled that.

Fiscal Responsibility now appears to mean massive new spending.

Quote:

. . . this SCHIP expansion is sensible -- if your goal is quickly to get as many people on public coverage as possible and to have children grow up thinking that it is normal for them to get their health insurance from the government. That is the goal.

My Views: With the bailout reaching $1 trillion, the mental block of spending large amounts of money seems to be breaking down. Commentators of all stripes seem to be accepting new, large spending as inevitable.

This mirrors the thinking in the business sector. There was the dot-com bubble a decade ago. Then there was the lending bubble of a year ago. During the times of both of these bubbles, conventional wisdom held that these kinds of practices were the new normal. People talked of changing conditions and changing times justifing the changing business practices.

The trouble with that thinking was that while times change, the laws of mathematics and of finance do not. The practices of the businesses that operated within these bubbles failed to stop the bubbles from bursting. The one idea that the nation should have learned was that this was inevitable. The laws of mathematics and hence, the laws of finance cannot be changed.

This is also true of the governmental sector. However the conventional wisdom may support massive new spending, the government must still pay its bills. - Else, bad things will happen.




George Will almost didn't make it as a syndicated columnist. His style was considered too erudite for a general audience.

Whatever one thinks of his views, read his work for use of language and for how he marshals facts and uses logic.

Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is at the right.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Who Killed ChessUSA.Net?

As the chess world absorbed the news of the closure of ChessUSA blog, the mystery of who did it ricocheted around the chess forums like a bullet. Fingers first pointed towards the hated Susan Polgar. She said this:

I was just told that Mr. Steve Owens received a credible legal threat from an interested party in the upcoming 2009 USCF Executive Board election. I find this appalling. I do not agree with Mr. Owens’ view on many occasions but this is chess politics at its worst. This is wrong.

Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
The President of the USCF rejected this, however. He issued this statement to the USCF’s Forums:
. . . Where did Susan say it was not her? She said it was "chess politics at its worst" and "This is wrong," but where did she deny that it was her?

Remember, when Brian Lafferty asked Susan and Paul on this Forum about February 2007 if they were married to each other, their response was to ignore the question and attack Brian. Most posters saw this reaction as a "no" answer to the question, but it was not. In May it was learned that they were married in December 2006, but this info was not in the June Chess Life and had it been, Paul might not have been elected, as many voters feel it is improper for one family to control two votes (half the number of votes necessary to pass a board motion). Susan and Paul subsequently denied trying to hide their marriage, and they were apparently correct that they didn't say they were not married to each other, just gave that impression without saying so.

Bill Goichberg
This was a most serious comparison. My response to this comparison was censored off the USCF’s Forums and no further rebuttal to this has appeared on that venue by anybody else. This is what I wrote:
Bill Goichberg, in the dishonest way that has become the staple of discussion of anything Polgar by USCF’s leaders, said about Susan’s first statement that “This was wrong” did not constitute a denial and compared her statement to her earlier statement in 2007 regarding her marriage. To be honestly comparable, she would have to said her marriage was “appalling”; “it is chess politics at its worst”; and “this is wrong”. In fact, in her statement on her marriage, she only said that she found Brian Lafferty’s question rude and insulting and she refused to answer it. Reasonable people would find some degree of gap between one statement and the other.

As for Steve's case, I can’t help but wonder how Susan's lawyer would handle a case that his client had just publicly and on the record labeled “appalling” and “wrong”. I’m no lawyer, but if I had to and if I was allowed, I bet that even I could defend Steve and win!
A few minutes later, he posted this:
I didn't say that it was Susan, only that she has not denied that it was her.

"Chess politics at its worst" is not a denial. "This is wrong" is not a denial.

I suppose it could be someone else described in "This party has silenced opposition in venues under their control -- and that is their right." There aren't many who fit that description, but there might be someone else out there who operates blogs or groups on which opposition is silenced.

Following is the last post Steve made before announcing the closing of his blog. Did this post cause Polgar or Truong to threaten legal action? I don't know for sure, but see no reason to rule out the possibility.

Bill Goichberg
Here is the post BG quoted.

The inhabitants at the USCF’s Forums leapt to the conclusion that Susan and/or Paul Truong were the murderers.
Steve, in your post on ChessUSA.net you stated (1) that the people concerned are "interested parties" in the Executive Board election; and (2) that they have multiple online venues under their control in which they have also silenced opposition. Since you are using plural here ("parties", "their control", "they") we can also assume (3) that the threat comes from at least two people acting in concert and jointly controlling online venues.

In my opinion, the only people who fit this bill are Polgar and Truong. I hope you will correct me if I am drawing the wrong conclusion.
- Brian Mottershead

Since I was the one man who was at the intersection of the mystery, (partner in the deceased blog and also Moderator in Susan’s forum) I contacted Susan who replied by e-mail.
Jack,

The first I heard about this was a few hours ago from one of the USCF members who alerted me about the wild accusations and speculations which surfaced on the net. Neither Paul or I have anything to do with this and we hope that Steve would go public with this information. In fact, I encourage him to go public with it for the sake of all USCF members.

Best wishes,
Susan
I also contacted Steve Owens, the legal owner of ChessUSA. He would not give more information to me beyond what he had publicly announced.

I felt like Lieutenant Columbo of TV Fame as I asked the chess players to look at the evidence instead of leaping to conclusions. Here’s a portion of what I said.
But anyway, what’s a few facts getting in the way of all the anti-Polgar mania? Well, let’s list a few facts, anyway.

Item: Bill Goichberg’s other piece of evidence was “Steve’s” last statement on the blog before he closed it. Very clever wordplay by the USCF’s President for sure. Yes, indeedy, the anti-Polgar post quoted by Bill G was the very last one done by Steve but it was not the last one done on the blog.

Item: The last one done on the blog was done by myself!!! It was a rebuttal of the last post by Steve. That last blog post defended Susan and attacked the USCF leadership.

Item: The post Bill G gave so much weight to, contained 4 comments which he did not quote. 2 were by me, one by Donna A, and one by Steve. 2 of those 4 comments (50%) were critical of the USCF leadership (Donna and me), 1 was neutral (me), and Steve’s was anti-Polgar.

Item: Since December 1, 2008 (last 2 months) there have been a total of 13 posts. 9 were by me and 4 by Steve. 4 posts attacked the USCF leadership while only 1 post attacked Susan – the one Bill Goichberg quoted.

Item: ChessUSA should be considered a Pro-Polgar blog by a 4 to 1 ratio in the last 2 months.

Query: In earlier months the ratio changed depending upon whether Steve or myself was active. So, why would Susan suddenly launch this kind of attack just when the ratio had swung decisively in her favor?

Query: If Susan had given any attention to what was on the blog at all, which I doubt, wouldn’t a better course have been to quietly encourage me to post more on it and turn it into an even more pro-Polgar bastion than it already was? - Especially in light of Steve’s reluctance to post on it, by his own statement as well as his history?



So, if the obvious suspect did not do it, then who did? As Lieutenant Columbo might have asked, as he gazed down at the murder victim, “Who dunnit?”

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Have Gun - Will Travel, the TV Show

This was one of the great Western TV shows of the 1950's. Like Maverick below, Paladin wandered the west. Unlike the Maverick show, this one was straight adventure. Paladin was a hired gunman - but with a conscience. He was a loner.

Each show started with the closeup of him taking the gun from the holster and pointing it straight at the camera. Then came a bit of dialogue from the show. It certainly was a great attention-grabber! This clip is a series of pictures that is a tribute to the show.



This was the only show I ever saw which made the act of giving a business card into a dramatic threat. Now you can see the show for free - or as long as CBS keeps it on its site. It the link ceases to work, then CBS has taken it down. I always loved the theme song. But, like most TV shows, you never get to hear the complete song when it airs. This clip gives the complete song!

ChessUSA.Net – RIP

A mysterious litigator managed to close a chess site yesterday. Though I was a partner in that site, I was not legally one, so I don’t know anything beyond what was posted there. Nor, do I know what was written that triggered the lawyer attack.

This is now the second chess site that has been attacked in as many months. In the Chess Blog Carnival on Jan. 1, I wrote this:

2008 had too many stories of governments and other official bodies censoring, punishing, and other wise taking control of the internet. Here in the chess world the internet war between Susan Polgar and the US Chess Federation begat dangers for the rest of us. First came the accusation that SP had conspired to hack into a USCF leader’s e-mail account. The USCF then used that as a pretext to commence legal attacks on her websites, ostensibly seeking the data to verify this accusation. The legal tactic was to serve papers on the internet service providers. Once the “keys to the kingdom” were turned over to the USCF, it could then use them to get the IP addresses of anybody who had ever posted anything and then go after them. (They are suing Susan, Gregory Alexander, and 10 other “John Does”.) Both defendants deny having anything to do with this.

Up to this point, the chess world can say that this is just a personal problem of Susan and Gregory. But those John Does are what concerns the rest of us. If the USCF are just targeting Susan and Gregory just because of politics, then they could target anybody. Do any of you reading this want chess politicians who may not like you, tracking your internet surfing and then use that information to embarrass you? Do any of you want to be victimized by specious lawsuits? - Just because you rubbed someone in power the wrong way?

On the other hand, the chess world should not hinder legitimate investigations into actual wrongs done on the internet. What we need is a statement from the USCF telling us what their policies, procedures, and safeguards are in this area. In the USCF’s Issues Forums I posted extensively on this and the USCF roundly rebuffed this call.

In the future, we may see other authorities in other countries who may want to target chess bloggers. Sadly, these events mean that we won’t be able to look to the chess leaders of the United States for support.

Little did I expect that the next victim would be hit so soon or that it would hit so close to home.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Polgar Misrepresentations? Answer: No.

What is the difference between a report and an attack? Here’s an example of a report.

Quote from Susan Polgar:

According to the Chief Financial Officer of the USCF Mr. Joe Nanna, the US Chess Federation under the leadership of President Bill Goichberg, Vice President Jim Berry, Vice President of Finance Randy Bauer, and Executive Director Bill Hall, lost $419,968 in the first 6 months of this fiscal year. With the $374,626 bequests, the federation still lost $45,342 year to date! There are still 6 months left in this fiscal year!

Note the factual nature of the sentence. It states that the USCF lost $419,968 in the first half of the year. Note next how the fact was sourced: “According to the Chief Financial Officer of the USCF Mr. Joe Nanna”. This is how you’re supposed to report the news. Basic Journalism 101.

Now this is an example of an attack:
In RGCP Randy Bauer notes in closing, "I'm truly saddened by Susan's attacks. They do not help US Chess." Indeed. So why is she doing it?

Now as to the issue, let’s cut through the fog. Revenues for the first half are down 9% over the first half of last year. As for projecting the second half, the correct way to do that is to take the historical average of second half gain. Not politician’s spinning; not budgets; but the historical percentage.

As for Susan’s figure $419,968 loss, this came from the reported loss through December adjusted for the special bequests.

Would that the Vice-President for Finance and the rest of Susan’s attackers respond to the substance instead of playing politics. “I’m truly saddened by Susan’s attacks.” I like this. Attack, defense, and evasion – all wrapped up into one simple sentence.

This essay first appeared in ChessUSA.Net and responds to a post there.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Coulter 1/22/09

Obama Treated Equally?


My take on Ann Coulter's latest. Her column was published on Townhall.com.

Summary: Compare how Obama has been treated versus how past Presidents were treated. Don't go back too far. Just look at the chorus of boos that assaulted George W. Bush upon entering the inaugural stage yesterday.

Quote:
Liberals always have to play the victim, acting as if they merely want to bring the nation together in hope and unity in the face of petulant, stick-in-the-mud conservatives. Meanwhile, they are the ones booing, heckling and publicly fantasizing about the assassination of those who disagree with them on policy matters.

My Views: Right on! I like the list of things that they said of Reagan's Inauguration versus the things being said of Obama's. Why are the left so mean to people who disagree with them?

As for Mrs. O's fashion sense, I just have to wonder why no one is pricing those gowns the way they priced Sarah Palin's?

I just want everyone to be treated equally. But that means that everyone has to BEHAVE equally. Carter wasn't booed at Reagan's Inaugural. Why boo Bush at Obama's Inaugural?

Some of Coulter's recent essays have struck me as petty but when she gets something right, she hits a bullseye. This one really struck a chord with me.




Anybody who is as hated as Ann Coulter is must be doing something right. She is very right-wing but every left-wing blogger would love to write like her. I hate rants; opinion pieces must argue from the facts. Pay attention to how she uses facts and draws politically incorrect connections among them. People would do well to think and not just be outraged.

Here's her Wiki bio. Her latest book is at the right.

31 Years


ago Kathy and I were married. We took the day off. It is amazing that I am still married to this good woman after all these years. (She could have done much better than me.) This reminds me of two things:

1) Dustin Hoffman was once asked what his secret to a good marriage was and he replied, "Fear." I could screw up and that makes me afraid. What would be the consequences? I don't want to go there.

2) Kathy was late for the wedding. She was in a back room of the church still getting ready when it was time to go. I knew then that I had her. Ever since, when she rags on me for being late, I remind her that she was late for the wedding. (Grin!)
---------------
The picture was taken 2 days after this in Hank's office by Hank Harvey. The camera didn't work on anniversary night.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama Inaugurated



We wish them well. Of the five living Presidents, 3 are Democrats and 2 are Republicans - both Bush's. If Reagan had still been alive, it would have been 3 and 3.

Here is the text of O's big speech.

By the way, we had TR, FDR, JFK, LBJ. For Obama, he doesn't like Barack much and he definetly discourages the use of Hussein. O should do just fine.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Grammar Knowledge 1/19/09

Use of commas:

Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly?



Which one is it?

  1. A man who hopes to succeed must work hard.
  2. A man, who hopes to succeed, must work hard.
  3. A man who hopes to succeed, must work hard.
  4. A man, who hopes to succeed must work hard.


Hint: Look for the restrictive clause.



And the answer is . . . .

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Maverick, The TV Show



I've been watching Maverick from Netflix. This was the show that launched James Garner's career, though I think Jack Kelly was pretty good, too.

The Maverick boys, Bret and Bart, got by in the Old West by gambling. They made money and lost money. They ran crooked cons and generally raised mayhem. One of the things about the new media is that old shows that were inaccessable are now available. I especially like that I can see the show in the order of the episodes.

I like the conning, the skulldugery and the comedy. The heros of this show get by through outwitting their enemies rather than outfighting them. This puts more demands on the plotting the storyline, hence more more demands on good scripts.

One big point. Too much is made of the acting. Yes, it is important but the writing is even more important. Regretabbly, Warner Bros. skimped on the writing in the later episodes and this is a big reason why James Garner and Roger Moore left. Watch the first three seasons. After that, well . . .

You can watch by buying DVD's Maverick (Television Favorites), or by subscribing to Blockbuster or Netflix. Netflix has instant streaming to the computer.

The above video gives you a flavor for the show. Wikipedia has a nice article.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Coulter and Limbaugh

The two conservatives people (non-conservatives) just love to hate:


Together on 1 Program.



The video is part 1 of four. The rest are Parts Two , Three, and Four .

Here's a written transcript. The book they discuss is "Guilty". In it she argues that some groups that are described as victims are not and some folks that really are victims are not recognized as such.




Anybody who is as hated as Ann Coulter is must be doing something right. She is very right-wing but every left-wing blogger would love to write like her. I hate rants; opinion pieces must argue from the facts. Pay attention to how she uses facts and draws politically incorrect connections among them. People would do well to think and not just be outraged.

Here's her Wiki bio. Her latest book is at the right.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Krauthammer 1/16/09

Who Will Vindicate Bush?


My take on Charles Krauthammer's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: Obama. He will vindicate Bush by his deeds rather than by his words. Bush's most controversial policies are already being tacitly accepted by the new President. Items:

  • Withdrawal from Iraq

  • Bush's Anti-terrorism infrastructure

  • The Economic Bailout

Quote:
He leaves behind the sinews of war, for the creation of which he has been so vilified but which will serve his successor -- and his country -- well over the coming years. The very continuation by Democrats of Bush's policies will be grudging, if silent, acknowledgment of how much he got right.


My Views: Well, Iraq did draw the most animus from the left but they vilified him even before any of that. The thing is that in the end the vilification of Bush was based more upon political prejudice than upon policy differences. When people rise above that then his policies and his presidency will receive a more favorable view.

Still, he got a lot wrong. The Bailout is still bad. Immigration is likely to grow as a national problem, particularly if the Mexican Drug War spills over the border. The victims of political persecution (Libby, the two border guards) ought to have been pardoned - and long before now. These things may be why Bush is unpopular in the country; they are not why he is unpopular with the Democrats.

When people can compare the Bush years to the Obama years, then we'll see.



Charles Krauthammer is a more establishment columnist. He came to punditry by way of psychiatry (at Massachusetts General Hospital) via the New Republic Magazine. He appears on TV where you never see his wheelchair. Here's his Wiki bio.

He wrote a book which is pictured at the right. I am drawn by the substance and the thinking than any particular writing flair.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Steyn 1/15/09

Another Routine Emergency

My take on Mark Steyn's latest. His column was published on the Orange County Register.

Summary: For the inauguration of Barrack Obama, George W. Bush declared Washington, D.C. a Federal Disaster Area. Obama and the Democrats are fine with this because now they can tap into FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds to help pay for costs associated with the inauguration. This is the first time in history that the inaguration of a President has been officially declared a national disaster.

Quote:
The proposition that a new federal administration is itself a federal emergency is almost too perfect an emblem of American government in the 21st century. FEMA was created in the 1970s initially to coordinate the emergency response to catastrophic events such as a nuclear attack. But there weren't a lot of those even in the Carter years, so, as is the way with bureaucracies, FEMA just growed like Topsy. In his first year in office, Bill Clinton declared a then-record-setting 58 federal emergencies. By the end of the Nineties, Mother Nature was finding it hard to come up with a meteorological phenomenon that didn't qualify as a federal emergency: Heavy rain in the Midwest? Call FEMA! Light snow in Vermont? FEMA! Fifty-seven under cloudy skies in California? Let those FEMA trailers roll!
My Views: What more is there to say? This shows more than anything the state of how government budgets and spends money in our day in age.





Mark Steyn is a syndicated columnist from Canada. Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is on the right. This is the book that got several Human Rights Commissions in Canada hot and bothered. With free speech under unprecidented attack, Mark Steyn managed to pull out a badly needed victory. This was the first time a Canadian Human Rights Commission found a defendent innocent.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Will 1/14/09

Judges May Downgrade Constitution


My take on George Will's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: Last year the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was a fundamental Constitutional right. Proposition 8 amended the State Constitution to reverse the Court's ruling. Now the CSC will rule whether or not an amendment to the Constitution is constitutional.

Quote:
Now comes California's attorney general, Jerry Brown -- always a fountain of novel arguments -- with a 111-page brief asking the state Supreme Court to declare the constitutional amendment unconstitutional. He favors same-sex marriages and says the amendment violates Article 1, Section 1, of California's Constitution, which enumerates "inalienable rights" to, among other things, liberty, happiness and privacy.


My Views: Forget the issue of Gay Rights for just a moment. Forget that this is just California. Who's in charge of Constitutional law in the USA?

The Federal Constitution starts with the words, "We the people". Not we the lawyers. Not we the judges. The people. This idea that those Articles of the Constitution that tell how the Constitution may be changed are now nullified and that only Courts may change the Constitution, is a matter of the widest and of the gravest concern.




George Will almost didn't make it as a syndicated columnist. His style was considered too erudite for a general audience.

Whatever one thinks of his views, read his work for use of language and for how he marshals facts and uses logic.

Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is at the right.

Grammar Knowledge 1/13/09

Use of the word it:

Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly?



Which one is it?

  1. Its my duty to admit to the army that it's gun was taken by me.
  2. It's my duty to admit to the army that it's gun was taken by me.
  3. It's my duty to admit to the army that its gun was taken by me.
  4. Its my duty to admit to the army that its gun was taken by me.


Hint: For the word "it" you see a possessive pronoun and a contraction.




And the answer is . . . .

Monday, January 12, 2009

Quote for the Day 1/12/09

According to the Chief Financial Officer of the USCF Mr. Joe Nanna, the US Chess Federation under the leadership of President Bill Goichberg, Vice President Jim Berry, Vice President of Finance Randy Bauer, and Executive Director Bill Hall, lost $419,968 in the first 6 months of this fiscal year. With the $374,626 bequests, the federation still lost -$45,342year to date! There are still 5 months left of this fiscal year.
- Susan Polgar, in her Chess Discussion Forum.

Uh, Susan, there's 12 months in a year, not just 11.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Will 1/11/09

Litigation Nation


My take on George Will's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: The proportion of lawyers in the workforce has doubled since the 1970's but the courts have gotten worse. It is not only the proliferation of lawsuits but what the fear of lawsuits have done to society that we should be concerned about.

Quote:
Time was, rights were defensive. They were to prevent government from doing things to you. Today, rights increasingly are offensive weapons wielded to inflict demands on other people, using state power for private aggrandizement.


My Views: An enthusiastic "Amen" to this. Everywhere we go we have to pay more and endure stupid rules and warnings just because people fear lawsuits. How come I can't get hot coffee, anymore? How come the doctors do all that "defensive medicine"? We're less free than before and we pay more than we should because of the overly litigious society we've wrought.




George Will almost didn't make it as a syndicated columnist. His style was considered too erudite for a general audience.

Whatever one thinks of his views, read his work for use of language and for how he marshals facts and uses logic.

Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is at the right.

In a Funk

I notice that even though this is a personal blog, I haven't been saying much about what's going on with me personally. There's not much to say.

I get up. I go to work. Accounting. I come home. I watch TV. Mainly Netflix - which is way cool. I play computer games. Read books. Make love to my wife.

That's it. My life. Not very interesting.

The thing with me is that while my life is not very interesting, the world is a very interesting place. That's why I post about politics, books, and all that other stuff.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Steyn 1/9/09

On Hating Jews


My take on Mark Steyn's latest. His column was published in the Orange County Register.

Summary: Hating Jews goes back centuries. Like all prejudice, racial/ethnic hatred is not only wrong; it hurts the hater, too.

Quote:

As I always say, the "oldest hatred" didn't get that way without an ability to adapt: Once upon a time on the Continent, Jews were hated as rootless cosmopolitan figures who owed no national allegiance. So they became a conventional nation state, and now they're hated for that. And, if Hamas get their way and destroy the Jewish state, the few who survive will be hated for something else. So it goes.


My Views: The anti-Israeli sentiment in Europe, America, and across the world has metastasized into a generalized hatred of the Jews. Steyn's article catalogues recent events in the news. Do non-Muslims hate Israel because it is Jewish, or because it is perceived as being pro-American? One thing that the article does not address is the mixed feelings among left-wing Jews towards Israel.

Something awful is at work here. It is not just the anti-Jewish acts and words that deserve our concern and condemnation, it is the failure of the world leaders to meaningfully condemn them. - And here's a big raspberry to you Britain's PM Gordon Brown!





Mark Steyn is a syndicated columnist from Canada. Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is on the right. This is the book that got several Human Rights Commissions in Canada hot and bothered. With free speech under unprecedented attack, Mark Steyn managed to pull out a badly needed victory. This was the first time a Canadian Human Rights Commission found a defendant innocent.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

USCF VP-Finance Deserts

Amid the fallout from the destruction of ChessUSA.Net, attention turned to the last topic on it: USCF finances.

Basically, the lawsuits have become the excuse for everyone to avoid getting serious about financial management. There are issues: the retirement fund comes to mind.

It is sad that the USCF's VP of Finance continually posts on the organization's forum but avoids discussion of financial affairs.

Basic Business Library

There's a good series of books by Barron's under the "Business Review Books" label. They cover major areas of business management, like "Marketing", "Finance", "Accounting", and so on.

Robert Kiyosaky's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series explains fundamentals of personal finance in an entertaining way, though "The Total Money Makeover" by David Ramsay is more practical.

Sales is probably the most needed skill in business. Even in corporate environments, employees have to continually sell themselves. Zig Ziglar has written many titles on this subject. Pick any one; he basically re-wrote the same book many times.

On personal things, I can see the merit in the "Dress for Success" thing. It is important. I like behavior skills better. (Doesn't mean I'm better, just that I recognize their importance.) Try "Talk to Win" by Lillian Glass.

Robert Kiyosaky make a good point about using network marketing as a practical means to work on sales skills. Here's a good, practical book on this: "Your First Year in Network Marketing" by Mark Yarnell and Rene Reid Yarnell.

If you work in accounting like I do, be sure to keep an annual GAAP Guide. I use Wiley's.

Next Chess Blog Carnival 2/15/09

The next Chess Blog Carnival will be posted at Chessvine. Submit at the submit link on the picture. Deadline is February 14.

The past edition is here.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Our Five Years on Mars

Map of Mars

Did you know that we've had rover on Mars for the last FIVE years? And they're still going strong. Here's a cool video.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Grammar Knowledge 1/6/09

Verb Tense :

Which of the following sentences is worded correctly?



Which one is it?

  1. Before the man succeeded, he prepared.
  2. Before the man succeeded, he prepares.
  3. Before the man succeeded, he must prepare.
  4. Before the man succeeded, he had prepared.


Hint: The past perfect tense goes before the past tense.



And the answer is . . . .

Monday, January 5, 2009

How Did Human Culture Evolve?


Source: Wikipedia

If culture and tradition is defined as any behavior that is learned by observing or interacting with others, then animals have culture, too. But to what degree was human cultural development due to the same causes as animal's and when did it mestasize due to our superior brains?

I believe that the additional variable is imagination. We have it; animals don't. Before Homo-sapiens, previous man species (Neanderthals, Rhodesiensis) had developed the ability to make and use stone axes. In fact, axes were in use for a million years - but without new inovations. At some point, people had to have imagination in order to take culture to the next level.

Recently, I came across this article in Live Science. It says, that much research needs to be done to trace the effects of language and intelligence on human culture.
Quote:
"We really know very, very little about the kind of roots of culture, and the biological origins of culture, and how the forms of culture we see in our species are similar to or different from those seen in animals," said zoologist Alex Thornton of Cambridge University.

Don't dismiss this question too fast. I wonder why there was no explosion of culture before the last Ice Age, a little over 70,000 years ago, when the Earth and the species of Man was much like it is today.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

The Bronze Age, 3000 - 1000 BC

Metallurgy was important to this age apart from the advantages (military and commercial) that it conferred upon civilization but also what it indicated. Knowledge was just one ingredient to a Bronze Age society. Organization, technical skills, and commercial rewards were necessary to implement and support industrial activity. Civilization itself had to rise to a new level.

During this period the major super-powers in the world were Egypt, Iraq, and China. (I use the general term "Iraq" for the succession of different empires that based their heartland in this area.)

China 's remoteness and protected it from the wars of the civilizations to the west. The Shang Dynasty may have ruled over 5 million people, which made the most populous empire in the world. It entered the Bronze Age by 1500.

Iraq established the first empire based on large scale conquest in the 24th. Century. It extended from the Persian Gulf in the south to the east coast of the Mediterranean in the west, and to the Caspian Sea in the north. It lasted about 2 centuries which isn't bad considering the primitive infrastructure and governance of the times. After 2000 the region became Babylon and became the hub of much inter-civ activity. It conquered and was conquered. The age ended with the Assyrian Empire in control.

This era was Egypt's golden age. The pyramids were mostly built by 2000. Egypt had its first large invasion in the 18th. Century. This changed the character of the state from an isolationist, inward looking society to a more standard warring and conquering empire.

India had a large first-rank civilization in the Indus River Valley until 1500. The Aryan invaders spent the rest of the age conquering the rest of India.

What is most significant about this age is that the historian emerges from almost total reliance upon artifacts, crockery, and excavations to written records. We go from just writing about physical things to writing about people and events.



Previous AgeMaster ListNext Age

Friday, January 2, 2009

The Agricultural Age, 10,000 - 3,000 BC

At the beginning of this age, the the planet has warmed from the Ice Age to the temperatures of today. In Alaska, the ice prison has broken up and the humans began migrating to the rest of the continent. In northern Africa, the lush plains of the Sahara turned into the desert of today. To the retreating peoples, the Nile River valley beckoned.

Climate change caused large stands of wild grain grew thoughout the Middle East. Around 8000 people in northern Iraq began to deliberately plant these grains. The nearby Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provided irrigation. After harvest, the grains were ground into flour which kept for long periods of time.

Historians call this age "The New Stone Age" or in Latin the "Neolithic Age". I don't think that advances in stonework was the determining factor in this era. It was warming of the planet and the subsequent development of farming.

Agriculture provided stability. It supported more people. It allowed people to congregate into cities. City folk were able to perform specialized tasks. Organization for defense and for commerce was needed. And people's imaginations were freed to pursue academic pursuits. Agriculture is the foundation that allows workers of other skills to prosper.

Jericho (yes, the one of the Bible) may be the world's oldest city, dating back to 8000. Posessing all of 10 acres and 2,500 people, it was the must-see metropolis of 7500. By 6000, pottery was developed. In the Far East, humans independently developed the farming of rice.

In the Sixth Millenium, the Sumerians took over the Iraq region and established a network of cities. In 4000 they founded the city of Ur and made it into the largest city in the world.
Egypt united under its first ruler in 3100. The Chinese established their first cities along the Yellow River about this time. Cities began in the Indus River Valley.

Towards the end of this era, the lands around the eastern Mediterranean began civilizations. In 4000 world population reached the unprecedented number of 85 million people. They lived in isolation from other civilizations but this was about to change.



Here's a related article.

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Krauthammer 1/2/09

In the Gaza Conflict One Side Is Right and the Other Is Wrong


My take on Charles Krauthammer's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: Score: Israeli's right; Palestinians wrong. Because the Hamas* government DELIBERATELY targets civilians; the Israeli government does not.

Quote:
Did the Palestinians begin building the state that is supposedly their great national aim? No. No roads, no industry, no courts, no civil society at all. The flourishing greenhouses that Israel left behind for the Palestinians were destroyed and abandoned. Instead, Gaza's Iranian-sponsored rulers have devoted all their resources to turning it into a terror base -- importing weapons, training terrorists, building tunnels with which to kidnap Israelis on the other side. And of course firing rockets unceasingly.
My Views: Last month, Hamas announced that the end of the truce with Israel. In response to unceasing rocket attacks, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip. It's announced intentions was to destroy Hamas' offensive capability.

I don't understand why the outrage is directed against Israel. The reasons normally given are that Israel uses disporportionate force and does disporportionate violance. This reason is just wierd.

I think Colin Powell summarized war best. Wars aren't supposed to be cliffhangers that drag on into tiebreaks. Wars, if they must be fought at all, ought to be short. You win it quickly and get out. Terrorists and terrorist governments need to understand that if they do bad things, they will get hurt. A lot. If morality does not stop them from doing bad things, then at least that will. That point has done more for peace than anything else.

* Hamas is the ruling party in the Gaza portion of Palestine.


Charles Krauthammer is a more establishment columnist. He came to punditry by way of psychiatry (at Massachusetts General Hospital) via the New Republic Magazine. He appears on TV where you never see his wheelchair. Here's his Wiki bio.

He wrote a book which is pictured at the right. I am drawn by the substance and the thinking than any particular writing flair.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Chess Blog Carnival 1/09



For Chess Blogs and Websites, 2009 opens with both new opportunities and threatening clouds on the horizon. New opportunities include new chess discussion and networking sites; new threats include attacks on chess sites by authorities (e.g. the US Chess Federation). More on this at the end. A few housekeeping points:


  1. The general rule is one article per blog but since it has been S-O-O long since the last edition, I’m allowing multiple entries. Readers be aware that the blogs showcased here have many good articles to read, even if they submitted only one article herein.
  2. I didn’t send rejection e-mails to the many sites that submitted non-chess related material, so I’ll explain here. This Chess Carnival is devoted to the game of chess. While I appreciate your interest in other games (poker, etc.), we’re keeping the Chess Carnival focus on chess. And while I am aware that many people are sincere in their beliefs in mind-expanding drugs and I see the claims that the particular ones discussed are legal, the tie-in to chess is just too indirect for inclusion here.
  3. If anybody wants to do another one of these chess carnivals soon, please drop me an e-mail. I’ve set up all the tools. There’s no use reinventing the wheel. You can have anything you need.

So, how does chess blogging look like at the beginning of 2009? Let’s check it out.

ANNOTATED GAMES

Let’s start with the grand daddy of all chess matches, and a gem of chess history courtesy of John Hillery: La Bourdonnais - McDonnell, 21st Match Game, 1834 posted at Western Chess.

From Susan Polgar’s Chess Discussion Forum come these analyses of the games from the 2008 World Championships. These positions use her chess viewer feature, so you will have to enable Java to see them.

BOOK REVIEWS

Do you want to read "How Life Imitates Chess" and Vice Versa? Read his review first and post a note and tell him Jack sent you. Jim West On Chess.

This discussion on the Best Endgame Books at the USCF Forums morphed into a general discussion of the best books for E/D players.

CHESS CULTURE

Say it ain’t so, Mark! Chess for All Ages: Some Chess Players Fib About Their Birthdays posted at Chess for All Ages.

Tom Panelas presents New York in Nine Hours posted at The Knights of Castle Kimbark. This is a tour of the chess places in NYC.

CHESS POLITICS

Naditha Amarakoon presents Chess and Drugs posted at A Chess Player's Rumblings. Don’t you just hate this topic? The blogger makes distinctions between stimulants and narcotics in the issue of how chess authorities test for them.

The larger chess world probably does not know just how bad a shape the USCF is in. There are multiple lawsuits; major chess events, such as the US Junior Championship is being botched; the USCF’s leaders are preoccupied with their feud with Susan Polgar. Chess Life, the USCF’s magazine is going down: (1) pages were cut and (2) it has been downgraded to optional status. Here’s a couple of articles I wrote:

From Chess USA, devoted mainly to US Chess Politics, here’s a dark piece on 2008 USCF Highlights. Be sure to read Steve’s comments to the essay.

From this blog, here’s Turning Point which I modestly believe is all you need to know about the USCF’s lawsuits vs. Susan Polgar and hers’ versus them. Not that there’s so much more to tell, but what has been written has been mostly false. The rest is trivial. You have better things to read than this stuff, anyway. Thus, the basis of my claim.

Though if you want to follow all the lawsuits, see John Hillery’s Nut Cases posted at Western Chess.

ENDGAME PLAY

James Stripes presents Elementary Positions posted at Chess Skills.

If you haven’t sampled one of the famous Mark Dvoretsky’s works, try last month’s Extra Pawn on the Side from Chess CafĂ©. This online magazine is one of the best chess sites ever.

EVENTS

Ryan Emmett presents Chess Ratings: A Necessary Evil? posted at SonofPearl.

From Chessvibes via Polgar Chess Daily News and Information comes a selection of Susan’s podcasts from the Dresden Olympiad. Watch for Boris Spassky’s interview for the eyewitness point of view to history.

The Boyleston Chess Club has long supported chess bloggers. For the Harry Lyman Memorial, here’s a memorial of the local hero himself.

HUMOR

Chess bloggers are funny people. Lots of submittals to the humor category.

George Duvalpresents You’re (still) a Mean one Mr. Grinch posted at Blunder Prone ... the troubled Knight.

James R. West presents My 59 Memorable Philidor Counter Gambits"

The community at Chess.Com presents two items for your consideration:
(1) polleke presents Bad behavior posted at Final Moves and

(2) David Evans presents Chess blindness or neuronepaenia? saying, "Chess blindness may be only a warning that something much more sinister is wrong with the way we play..."

IMPROVEMENT

Ivan Wijetunge is still Getting to 2000. Here’s the Last round loss from the Wisconsin Memorial.

Naditha Amarakoon presents Play To Improve While You Can posted at A Chess Player's Rumblings.

Chessvine has a short post on using the computer for tactical chess training.

OPENING THEORY

Fajarowicz TN is a theoretical novelty but is it sound?

Anindya presents The Ruy Lopez for White - an Introduction Chess Blog The Pulse of Chess posted at Chess Blog The Pulse of Chess, saying, "This is the introductory article on Ruy Lopez. Deeper analysis of different variations were done on subsequent articles." Here’s essays on the Berlin Defense, Part 1 and Part 2 .

The The Kenilworthian presents two articles: (1) Bird's Defense Bibliography (C61) and (2) The Left Hook Grand Prix Revisited. This last is an analysis of the line 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.a3!? d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.O-O Nge7 8.d3 O-O 9.Qe1.

POSITION ANALYSIS

Polly Wright presents Castling Queen Side: Chess Survival posted at Castling Queen Side.

Blue Devil Knight of Confessions of a Chess Novice is probably going to get all over me for this but I grabbed this entry at the last minute because it is so very good. Safety First!.

STRATEGIC CONCEPTS

Finally, here’s Mark Weeks again, a support beam of the chess bloggers. This is more a chess variant than strategic but here it goes. A Database of Chess960 Start Positions I like the idea of comparing the database of alternate starting positions to the standard start position. Do you notice that the middlegame strategic concepts remain the same? (e.g. center control, kights in the middle, knights in closed positions, etc.)

AFTERWORD

Storm clouds and opportunities. First the bad stuff.

2008 had too many stories of governments and other official bodies censoring, punishing, and other wise taking control of the internet. Here in the chess world the internet war between Susan Polgar and the US Chess Federation begat dangers for the rest of us. First came the accusation that SP had conspired to hack into a USCF leader’s e-mail account. The USCF then used that as a pretext to commence legal attacks on her websites, ostensibly seeking the data to verify this accusation. The legal tactic was to serve papers on the internet service providers. Once the “keys to the kingdom” were turned over to the USCF, it could then use them to get the IP addresses of anybody who had ever posted anything and then go after them. (They are suing Susan, Gregory Alexander, and 10 other “John Does”.) Both defendants deny having anything to do with this.

Up to this point, the chess world can say that this is just a personal problem of Susan and Gregory. But those John Does are what concerns the rest of us. If the USCF are just targeting Susan and Gregory just because of politics, then they could target anybody. Do any of you reading this want chess politicians who may not like you, tracking your internet surfing and then use that information to embarrass you? Do any of you want to be victimized by specious lawsuits? - Just because you rubbed someone in power the wrong way?

On the other hand, the chess world should not hinder legitimate investigations into actual wrongs done on the internet. What we need is a statement from the USCF telling us what their policies, procedures, and safeguards are in this area. In the USCF’s Issues Forums I posted extensively on this and the USCF roundly rebuffed this call.

In the future, we may see other authorities in other countries who may want to target chess bloggers. Sadly, these events mean that we won’t be able to look to the chess leaders of the United States for support.

Let’s end on a more positive story. The opportunities.

There’s three opportunities for specifically CHESS bloggers to network:

A new Facebook Chess Community has recently formed. Ask this fellow about it.
A new MODERATED Google Chess Forum although this concerns USCF Chess.
Chess Networking Site

Here’s past Chess Blog Carnivals. Click on the Past Posts tab.

Happy new year!