some poker websites have changed how they take money (and how they cash out) -

I just found out I had one for deposit I knew nothing about - will cashouts be a pain? - probably - but that hasn't been a problem lately.

hello, HORSE :)

RB

I have a confession - I MIGHT have quit playing poker - not sure yet -

but when I heard that Lycos said it was #1 on their search engine hits, ahead of Paris Hilton, I have to think at it's core, that it's well past jumping the shark.

I'm not sure - let's see how my live game turns out - next time I play will probably have to be live until they get that straightened out.

RB

Where to begin –

They’ll replace anyone investigating anything related to the criminal activities of the President but they won’t leave Neteller and innocent poker players alone – I now need to find a new way to fill my online accounts.

Or maybe I’ll just go play live again for a bit – remind myself why I don’t – I’ll go and take a Bible to read – that’ll be fun – LOL – actually, I should do that next time I’m in Vegas – take the big study one that breaks each word down to the Greek and Hebrew and just sprawl it on the rail as I read –

I’m paranoid to the nth degree about Ice Dams now – I have frozen gutters and a heavy snowfall will probably cause a slight chance of flooding – the house I bought is prone to such activity on the front of it – fortunately the smoking gun report for Global Warming is coming out – odds are I won’t see as much snow as I used to – whew. Note to self – next time I visit the family – go see the last remaining Glaciers in Glacier Park.

Nevertheless I now worry about Ice Dams 24/7 while playing computer games because I disconnected my TV and now have no online poker to play at home – (never did get that bankroll rebuilt, but I felt like playing for fun too) –

I suppose in it’s own twisted way, a poker account is a way to take money in and out of a country without taxation – boy, they hate that crap.

A lot over the next couple years will determine whether we continue up to the road of reason or back down the path to Social Fundamentalism – I.E. – Republican politics – the number of retards on 2+2 who still argue in the politics forum about how great GWB is – in spite of a polltard war no one wanted started except the neocons – and then they miss a painfully ignorant additional fact – Oh yah, you’re favorite do-gooders also took easy access to poker away – that alone should merit the entire online poker community saying a big FU to ye ol’ GOP –

but nope - the defenders and proponents of fantasy land are still going strong - they've never seen Disneyland but they believe it exists - so lock and load :(

Apparently a lot of people still believe the sky is falling – so do I, BTW – I just think we’re looking at the wrong world leader as the new shining example of Fascism.

BTW - here's what you need for what happened in Nazi Germany to happen anywhere.

1. - Leader who regularly disregards other political branches of government on their way to consolidating power - manufacturing false claims of war and invading are also par for the course.

2. - Hyperinflation and Extreme Joblessness - anyone looked at the manufacturing sector lately? McJobs can't replace it all and $179K condos for 800 sq. feet are nothing to notice either.

3. - A scapegoat - could be Liberals, Gays, or Muslims - anyone not like us and deterimental to the status quo can be singled out - today harassessment - tomorrow legalized persecution -

4. - You need full scale cooperation between the Govt. and Business - Nazi Germany wasn't just a political movement, it was a capitalistic movement - it was Capitalism at it's purest - one need look no further then the cards that the Nazi's kept to keep track down to the reichmark the estimated expense and profit in every Jewish Victim who was interned in a Concentration Camp - (they even had a line for gold extracted from the mouths of the victims)

no real government regulation or oversight - hands off - just produce the guns and tanks, and you can use cheap/slave labor available supplied by el boss himself, preferably from groups in sections 2 and 3 - it is the total fusion of Govt. and Business working together to further each other's interests, both profit and personal. We the majority get crusts of bread and are told if we work hard we too can exploit our fellow human beings in this same way.

ok, so I don't just worry about ice dams.
RB

Up on the left there I have taken away beloved Felicia's top spot - put in Pokerworks.com - seems like everyone from Iggy to Amy have a spot over there now - maybe if I'd start writing about poker again -

a state of the union in 2007 is forthcoming - it was profitable but not nearly what I wanted it to be - it was ok - meh - profitable.

rb

I feel like I'm watching High Stakes Poker - and meanwhile I just signed up for a turbo - what is wrong with me :)

On the High Stakes table, both president Bush and president Ahmadinejad think they have a strong hand - but I don't think either one of them are bluffing -

They both have weak hands - Might both have K5 - barely good enough for heads up and not really good for All-in

president Bush faces unpopular approval here at home for what has been deterimined may be the worst foreign policy decision of the 21st Century - and I say that only cause it may be the LAST stupid foreign policy ever made - this world's supposed to end in fire, ya know....

president Ahmadinejad also is losing support at home - He lost a lot of support in the last election and I've been reading where the youth of Iran, it's future, are causing trouble in the Universities and Scholarly parts of the world. They realize for all it's oil wealth, Iran should be much better off then it is - I imagine Tehran is a beautiful city to see, as all ancient cities are.

I imagine the majorities of Iran and the US want peace, but their leaders, the guys on the high stakes table, want otherwise.

both depend on a base for their power that is Religious, Fundamentalist, and wavering in it's devotion to the violent parts of their scriptures - both are part of a specific sect that is trying to rally the full cause to their support - One for the Iranian Govt and it's religions beliefs of Islam, and the US does the same thing for Christianity.

Both men want all their chips in because of the strength their positions will get once they've fully committed to war.

Normally I wouldn't worry so much but GWB just bought in for 21K more....

and being that I am Christian, I am worried that I don't see anything in there about going to war to kill those who persecute you - and I refuse to believe in the concept of a "Christian" nation - Jesus didn't come to make nations prosperous and victorious in battle. He came for Palestinian Christians being shelled and tortured in any generation. -

and he came for Grace, not Law - Know what the difference between Law and Grace is?

Law is saying - yes, surge more US troops into battle, for many, many thousands more Iraqi's have perished then Americans, and "an eye for an eye" has not yet been fulfilled in the eyes of God - I think we left too many kids alone and dead in this one for us to hope for favored Christian nation status. At this point, we have begun to look like another "Christian nation" of the 20th century - prone to manufacturing precepts for war and seeking escalation for consolidation of power. I do not think Christians of this country will like the Law so much when they see what it will cost them.

Grace is loving your enemies, forgiving them, and trying to open dialogues with them, not cutting off diplomatic contact and sending aircraft carriers to the region. - Grace is "bless those who persecute you and pray for them" - and as a result the Church has thrived in any environment, though I regret sometimes it has become the predator to avoid being the prey.

In fact, if you don't believe in grace, you really shouldn't call yourselves Christian - how about there, Religious Righties? - if ya aren't gonna act like Christ, do those of us who are trying a favor - please continue to do what you are doing - use your denominational and nationalist and theological labels - anything except being a Christian - be Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Liberal, Republican, Conservative, American and Proud

otherwise, the world's gonna end in fire, ya know? - cause once these religious wars start, they NEVER stop. It's getting to the point where folks don't wanna let the guy upstairs make the decision of who lives and who dies anymore, and that REALLY makes him mad, me thinks -

ah well - outta my hands - but at least I've been around long enough to recognize a bad thing when I see it -

that's part of the reason I wanted a house - I wanted this locked in for a spell - a place to ride out the storms that are coming. And there's a small part of me worried that at 35 and single, I might be elgible for a selective service call - ugh....

and THIS is why I don't think now is a good time to be having kids or getting married - but as you can see, the post may itself be a warning to those who haven't - beware of too much free time and Bible education between the ages of 18 and 21 - man, I missed out on ALL the good nookie :(

I laugh when I say that :)

pax
rb

as many folks are aware, a new carrier group was dispatched to the Persian Gulf region - (John C. Stennis) -

this is nothing new - we always have one aircraft carrier group in the region - now we have two.

Did you guys know a Carrier can only really launch twelve hours of sustained operations? - Instead of withdrawing the other Carrier there (which is slated to leave at the end of March) - the two Carriers will be stationed together -

this will allow the US 24/7 air support - I'm also hearing rumors of Patriot missile batteries being set up in Iraq - which is hilarious considering how many Scuds the insurgents have.

Nope - we're on our way, kiddies - having pissed off 1/2 of the Muslim world, we're well on our way to pissing off another good chunk of it as we prepare Military strikes that will destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities for now.

If Iran wasn't developing a nuke before, they will after we're done - in fact, I don't see how this can be taken by the Iranians as anything but a Declaration of War, as insulting to them as Pearl Harbor and 9/11 was to us, since GWB will give NO warning before the strike, unlike Iraq where he made bleating noise for a yr. before 9/11 about attacking them.

great stuff here at www.globalsecurity.org - the Iranian timeline - and given GWB's recent reference to taking action against Iran and Congress's insistence that the Iraqi resolution doesn't cover war against Iran, you're likely to see things on the hill REALLY heat up over this unauthorized warlike action on the part of the President which is imminent, IMHO.

But at the end of the day Americans know they were lied to the first time, and anyone who supports this President will be guilty by association - so we might even have a filibuster-proof majority by 2008 -

it won't be worth the lives of the American boys GWB will throw into the meat grinder - but it will be necessary to bring them home, apparently, since this President is unwilling to withdraw from Iraq until an offical Iraqi Government has signed over 75% of Iraqi's oil profits.

For what it's worth, after the surge fails to quell the insurgency, I don't believe the US troops will pull out but will be redeployed to protect the financial interests of BP, Shell Oil, and everyone salviating at the windfall they'll reap from the oil stolen from the Iraqi's - In fact, I doubt they'll even care if the Iraqi Government is sustainable after that - once they've got the signatures they need, they'll have no need for an Iraqi governement. The surge is to keep trouble down during the Iranian strikes and to get the signatures needed for the open-ended oil contracts that GWB's buddies need signed in a parody of a legally signed and authorized government contract - at the point of a gun and the threat of withdrawl should they not be sign over the HIGHEST and most obscene profits ever given to an oil company - you can always negotiate better prices at the point of a gun.

we won't leave Iraq, we will bomb Iran, and the 90K request for more troops for the Army/Marines tells us the US Military staff knows exactly what is coming and what they need - we'll probably stock it with folks seeking US citizenship status - selling citizenship on the backs of Military Service -

It starts with the hit on Iran - I'd even stake my reputation on it in the Politics forum - but I think I'm batting a thousand so far.

before the end of March - we will start an unauthorized and illegal attack on Iranian facilities. It is the missing link - why we sent extra aircraft carriers and Patriot missles for what's supposed to be a guerilla based insurgency - they're getting ready to inflict Pearl Harbor on a group of people (Persians) who you REALLY don't wanna piss off -

thus sayeth Whiskeytown. Let us see how much comes true - this isn't religious prophecy, by the way - this is a studied observation of History and the patterns that repeat when folks go to war.

rb

twice this week I've been ON the wire - down to my last $15 or $20 in a SNG or a Razz tourney and twice come back - (actually, that was a 45 player SNG) -

slumming right now trying to rebuild my 2 buck bankroll on another site - in a PL .10 cent game I got AA the first hand and doubled up off KK -

I have been banned for 24 hrs from 2+2 for personal attacks/trolling in the Politics Forum - at last I am a man - I don't know if it was this gem but I hope so -

upon hearing claims by a troll of "smelling corrpution"

-----------

You couldn't smell corruption if it was a powdery line on a mirror in front of you and you sucked it into your nostrils with a $100 bill. phulueese.

rb

-----------

I find insults based upon the percieved behavior of this president are the most fun when dealing with trolls -

busted out 11th in a Razz tourney - (only 40 players) -

was in the top 4 for almost two hours - then I get 5 out of 7 hands that start A6x - with x being some number between 2 and 5, giving me a solid 6 -

in Razz, you raise and bet everything when you have the best hand - and 5 times a fucker called and sucked out - which is what Razz is - a game where you draw and try to suck out.

there are more entries in Google for "fucking razz" then for "fucking Holdem"

no surprise there :(

rb

I just took two 2nds in two SNG's - a $25 Turbo NL Holdem and a $22 HORSE -

I shoulda had first in the HORSE one - I felt like I was playing a bot - got way ahead with a flush in the Stud stages and then lost to a constant stream of two pairs on 6th and 7th st.

still - means I can play poker right? - the only way this game will stay interesting for me is to do like Felicia and branch out - my study has been limited but the core tactics (aggression when you have a hand - selective bluffing) -

once got a full house on 5th st in Razz - impressive but had to lay it down - LOL

good times - playing poker in the warmth and comfort of one's own home - let us hope we can continue to do so in our enjoyable times -

this almost feels like a better and purer form of the game to me - but mostly I just don't like Live's ambience that much lately -

that and an ugly zit on my forehead - I'm shy -

but not too shy to post a picture of me on vacation -



I'm going Jim Morrison/Unabomber - this way when I say stuff folks will believe I'm serious - LOL

I should put that on an online personal ad - LOL - whadda backdrop - he's 20 feet tall and looks like he's about to pummel me but it's 2.5 megs - ;) - I'll spare ya that

pax
rb

I gotta be honest - I was hoping after the election I could get less into politics and more into poker - but poker ain't paying right now, kids - and I'm tired of writing bad beat stories.

the world is evil, ya know that - that's part of the reason I'm a Christian - I don't need any serious work to be convinced at our core humanity is capable of terrible things that happen nowhere else in nature.

Think about it - Remember that Val Kilmer movie about the two lions in Africa? - It was so rare for them to kill for sport - Animals don't kill for sport very often - oh, sure, a cat will kill a bird and bring it to your doorstep, but at it's primal nature, I think is more basic - are we supposed to eat it or be proud? - I'm not sure - but my old siamese always used to do that -

my mom has two new cats now - I'll probably get some soon - but maybe not - as my drummer friend is allergic - we'll see -

but humans do it all the time - and who kills for possessions and power the way humanity does -

nope - and there is a hole in me - (in everyone, really) and I think that's what CS Lewis described as the God shaped hole - it's tough to recognize - and I knew for a time I was trying to fill it with booze - so now as my spirituality revives, I find myself drawn to Christ

but the Christ I found in the bible now looks nothing like the church that takes it's name - almost like I'm looking at a cheap paper copy in America - artifical, like Hollywood.

I find how revolutionary it seems to be to suggest that we should pray for our enemies - the words "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" have escaped the notice of many on the Religious Right - instead we try to find ways to escalate wars - and seek doctrines that justify the sword and the elevation of money, even putting God's name on it when once Jesus seemed to make clear that Money was Caesar's, but what's God's is God's and should not be given to Caesar.

but that's what the church tends to do when it tries to merge church and state - they don't see it - they think they have an Old Testament mandate or something - but they're not Jewish, and if they believe violence is the way of Christ, then they may have a suprise coming -

but then God is also merciful to the ungrateful and the evil - and I suppose I too have been both - for I once cast votes for these men who have started this latest war - and I suspect they'll get one more in under my watch before they're done - on my vote using my tax dollars.

and it was stupid - we had Bin Laden cornered in Afghanistan - cut off from Tora Bora - but instead we move those troops and Special Forces to prepare for Iraq -

this war in Iraq didn't have to happen - it only did because a man famous for ruining everthing his daddy gave him became president and ruined his political party, the name of this Country and everything it stands for. When he leaves office in two years, and when this Congress is done with oversight, it'll be the first time the American people will know the truth about this war and we'll have a better idea of the cost in blood by then - although we may only know it in abstract terms of "much greater then in 2006"

and wanna know what really sucks - maybe he isn't a Christian - maybe he doesn't give a rat's ass about what he's done.

but because I do claim the title, I gotta pray for him. But he'll need it - his legacy will be blood forever on that Texas family. He will be one of America's most hated and reviled presidents -

in many parts of the world - he already is.

Here's a prayer - Lord don't let those fuckers use nukes on muslims. - and if by specifically I mean Israel on Iranian bunkers - even better.

let it be what it's supposed to be - the gospel of PEACE -

rb

I can get no rest

Pat Robertson predicts attacks in 2007

Pat Robertson predicts a year of terror attacks - he'll be more disappointed if it doesn't come true then he will be if thousands die, I suspect. But that misses the more obvious point. Predicting violence coming down upon the head of the United States is like predicting bees will sting you after you've been chucking rocks at the hive - this government's policies have, by extension, made us less safe - and by extension, a prediction of more violence is +EV if the bet were taken in a Vegas Casino, N'est Ce Pas? - that is what the evidence is showing us.

Lord if you're talking to Pat - give him something more specific we can use - make him stop the sun or start a bush on fire with his mind or something - cause I can't eat this shit sandwich.

Pat urges prayer to avoid many many dead, but have you always noticed when they ask for prayer, they also get the donation request in there?

I hear stories of the Christian church in China asking folks to pray for them - they want nothing else, no financial gifts or support - they say no - just pray - that's faith -- I will look forward to meeting my Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ someday.

but for now, here's my prediction - they will blame the democrats and the left for every failure they've racked up the last 6 years.

so Pat predicts war - I don't need to - I'll take the other side and predict peace -

so let's see, scapgoating left over the right, check - peace over war, check -

I pray we all have that moment of clairity where we are maybe seeing something unfold and we see it repeating the endless pattern that we may recognize from a high school teacher - and I pray that we have enough gall left over to stick a pipe in the spokes of whatever forces God would be pleased to see take a spill on the face.

another 50/50 - justice or mercy - hmmmm....

I don't feel any better now that Saddam is dead - think I'll pray for mercy this year.

rb

well, where can I start - I'm upstairs in what will be an office, on a crappy card table on what will be a desk, near a futon frame which will be a couch, and I'm about to put a hole in the wall -

home ownership sucks - :) - sorta - REALLY not liking having to keep those sidewalks snow free - I'll have to raise holy hell with the Global warming stuff -

got Gillian Welch on - got $10 in Full Tilt tourney - I'm golden -

------------------

I had an ambitious plan to let poker pay for all my entertainment expenses, but for the time being I just wanna make some money again - except for a $400 hit in CA, my poker has been for shit as of late - nothing new here - but I should get back to the tourneys and the tourney books - just too much easy money there -- too many good players making too much - and I know I can be ONE of them - at least online ;)

been out playing live at Canterbury twice at 2-5 am - feels like it's half full of sharks looking for drunks to feed on - more women lately - including one at the 30/60 table I've never seen before - always a good sign - but as a whole the attitudes/vibe leaves me outta there unless I'm starved for human interaction.

listening to that Gillian Welch song again - some of those words come back to me 16 months after my last drink and still keep me from haunting the dial a shots that occasionally come my way, though had I caught Iggy I'd have called a friend and caught a toke at least for my bud - gotta follow up on these links here - really should redesign the whole blog, but at this point, let's go out in a blaze of Rust -

anyways, I miss sitting in a bar, sipping whiskey, being cute and flirty - of course, I lost cute 4 yrs ago and am now in the ragged man phase - but that's all right - just means I'm a survivor.

---------------------------------------------

Which lover are you, Jack of Diamonds?
Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram
I send a letter, don't know who I am
I dream a highway back to you.

I'm an indisguisable shade of twilight
Any second now I'm gonna turn myself on
In the blue display of the cool cathode ray
I dream a highway back to you.

I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire-riding, wheeling when I lead em up
Drank whiskey with my water, sugar in my tea
My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you.

damn, that woman can write for the broken-hearted, can't she....

I like that last verse - most of the poker blogosphere has missed my drunkest days - when I'd snag a shot and chase it down as quick as I could to keep it from coming back up - when I was trying to plug a hole in my soul with anything that would do the job -

I wish you knew me, Jack of Diamonds
Fire-riding, wheeling when I lead em up
drank whiskey with my water, sugar in my tea
my sails in rags with the staggers and the jags
I dream a highway back to you

-----------------------

10 yrs ago Townes Van Zandt passed away (on the 1st actually) - thanks for the songs, TVZ - hope heaven has a houseboat in it for ya.

rb

I've been without internet for 4 days - I plan on grabbing a wireless NIC tonight and transplanting this pc to the new upstairs office or what passes for it -

think it's time I play as much online as I feel like - this will still be a busy year - and I can always buy a drill bit that drills 2 inch holes next week

rb