Poker and the Art of Folding, a short monograph...

Poker is a game
of mostly folding, few bets.
All in when you do.

Edmund Burke speaks of tolerance & the limits of forbearance...

I take toleration to be a part of religion. I do not know which I would sacrifice; I would keep them both: it is not necessary that I should sacrifice either.

Speech on the Bill for the Relief of Protestant Dissenters (1773)

   I have noticed that many people are experts when it comes to someone else's behavior or life. I think it important to learn to treat such opinions with a spirit of tolerance, but have trouble knowing the point at which it becomes necessary to engage in refuting opinions that are intolerant of opposing points of view. Indeed, how far one should go in exposing and refuting intolerance without oneself being laid open to the charge of intolerance is quite a puzzle.

   While I subscribe to the view that "an eye for an eye leaves the world blind," I cannot subscribe to the view that forever turning the other cheek is indeed a prudent strategy. Dealing with those who demonstrate their intolerance by forcing compliance through legal or bullying tactics, claiming the right to do so on religious or political beliefs, cannot and will not depend on passive strategies.
   I would like to point out that non-violence is not by definition passive, nor do good manners dictate smiling fatuously while rudeness is perpetrated. But as a person who strives for tolerance and good behavior, I feel I am left with few good replies when confronted with certain types of behavior, such as the picture below. It is all wrong on so many levels, yet...

There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.

Observations on a Late Publication on the Present State of the Nation (1769)

Ten Years After...



Again, trotting out some old material that is still relevant today. As a friend of mine posted recently, it's too bad that all my friends feel the same way—meaning that I am still preaching to the choir. Still, I think it noteworthy that 10 years after the WTC destruction, we still have a presence in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

Prove the Mayans right—vote for Palin in 2012

Stay tuned for a series of mishaps that masquerade as interviews from a number of newscasters, and even Ralph Nader in a spoof ad—as George H. W. Bush said back in 1991, "Stay the course!"

   Some of these interviews go back a few years, but as Sarah Palin continues to gain adherents politically, I thought it prudent to trot them out again. Perhaps I am preaching to the choir, but in the last week we have seen many tributes to Ronald Reagan who ran up the largest national debt in history. As his proponents state, he rid the world of the "Soviet menace," but the price paid then was higher than the current national debt in terms of the buying power of the US dollar.
   Yet the last election saw many Republican candidates gain office, mostly on the campaign platform that Obama is not doing enough, fast enough. Odd, because these same Republicans have succeeded in putting up so many roadblocks that action is nigh impossible, yet the same Americans who voted these Republicans into office may indeed support Sarah Palin and continue to sing the praises of the Great Communicator.

"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." http://www.msu.edu/~owensma1/rrbomb.wav

Spin Dry...

People often ask, "What's it like being a drug & alcohol counselor?"