Poker Perambulation

If you haven’t heard the race is close with this guy or that making a big move in this direction or the other then you are in a coma. Otis talks about how we are always drawing to that gutshot. He tells you true just how manipulated you are. If you think you can bluff, meet the experts.

It is also time to begin separating us in to red or blue folks. One side are cruel misers with disdain for their fellow Americans who are poorly fed, housed, cared for, etc, As a rich nation, we need to be ashamed we can’t take care of those unfortunate children by providing them with medical insurance.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong but people are swimming across the Rio Grand in droves. They are poor people who don’t have access to as many give aways as a genuine citizen. And, they are doing it to ‘not be poor’ and to get medical care. If they are managing this without speaking the King’s English, I am wondering about the folks that Pelozi, Clinton, etal are wanting us to worry about.

If you read Sinclair Lewis’ The Jungle you read about some pretty horrific conditions in Chicago’s stockyards. It was still running when I was a little kid. I can describe the smell that worked its way out multiple blocks from the square mile or so of pens and killing rooms. It wasn’t the ghetto of Lewis’ day but using a deodorant – had they been invented and so advertised – wouldn’t have made you less noticed. The place stunk but unions had come along and it was good work.

The Chicago that was built by industry did it on the backs of many ethnic groups. Chicago is described as a city of neighborhoods and that is from the various migrations that arrived to work under conditions we will not accept today, thank God. Yet, not only were we the melting pot but we were the land of opportunity. Our streets were paved with gold. WTF did those fools think. They were poor, exploited people without health care rights or a decent wage. They are also our grand or great grand parents and they made a life and their children got an education they couldn’t have gotten any place else in the world. They made the most of it without food stamps or Medicaid. That’s un-American these days!

Carnegie was one of those robber barons who’s steel company used up human at an alarming rate. U.S. Steel is still in the area and a great place for those with a limited education to provide very nicely for a family. The company adopted to the time and technology. Just recently his corporation funded the rehab of the old Carnegie Library that had been replaced. They funded turning it into a theater for local theater groups to use. All that filthy lucre that the robber baron made from our sweat and blood – literally – is still serving society.

I lost my liberal leanings compliments of the last of the New Deal presidents — Lindon Johnson. The idea lives on but the term has fallen out of favor. Now we’re red or blue. Lindon created the War on Poverty and threw a huge amount of money at the problem while we were fighting a war that took a big chunk of our GDP. Anything sounding similar here? We again need to spend huge chunks of our GDP to solve the poverty problem. I thought our government did that. How come we need wash, rinse and repeat with our wallets just one more time”?

It seems that government isn’t the way to resolve such issues. After all we’ve done it before and it didn’t work. Government has done many just acts. They did it with debated and well considered laws that kept robber barons from preying on people. The cost of that was born by the corporations and they adopted and improved and gave citizens a better shot. Altruism isn’t a part of business plans and government oversight is necessary. That oversight didn’t cost much. The price was electing good people that weren’t under the influence of PAC’s and all that money or at least not every one of them was. So, we got laws that protected the citizen while allowing the market to reward both corporation and employee.

Where government fails is when it starts using our money to solve issues that it shouldn’t be solving with money but with intellect. Carnegie’s money is still working to benefit society. In government there’s never enough money to do all the needed good. Tell that to the Rockefeller foundation or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Those operations will go on and on doing good without raping the GDP.

So, go read Otis cynical view of this election year and think a bit about what I just wrote. It is counter intuitive to think that evil trumps good or at least the good we envision and that we are ready to again support this election year.

As a society we aren’t very bright. We have more knowledge than past generations. We have almost unlimited potential. I just wonder if we will squander that and need a Gibson to write multiple volumes about our Decline and Fall?

I’ve said repeatedly that the UIGEA is a wakeup call to all of us – red or blue. Our government is broke. Good ideas are not the well thought out and crafted laws of the trust busting era that served the nation well. Both sides are implementing populist ideas without considering the consequences. Poker players should understand that better than anyone else.

ADDENDUM:
Regardless of you view on the war, you will find something of interest in a West Point report on the status of the military and its operating theaters. It is a thorough review of the entire situation in a way that should leave us all better informed. Check it out.

———————–

The fine folks at the Department of Justice just drug in another pot. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have agreed to a $31.5 million settlement with the US Attorney’s Office to end an investigation without admitting anything other than they didn’t want to litigate. If they can come up with a few more suckers they’ll have a modest down payment on the cost associated with bribing the EU to pay less attention to our puritanic antics.

———————–

I continue to prove I’m not the smartest bulb on the tree at the stud tables. I’m playing a couple of hours almost every day. I think I am improving but the bankroll doesn’t support that. I “roared back” to break even from the latest plunge and am again tanking. Stud is a frustrating game. At this point playing Hold’em, I at least thought I had a clue. At stud, I keep having far more questions than answers. The chase is on at all the tables. And, often, it is a legitimate chase based on pot odds. But, that is just as often not the case. I watch people promote 5’s up and win while I manage to lose with Jacks full at times. Here’s an interesting case in point. I’ll let you figure it out on your own. It sort of looks like the river ran through every hand there — if not 6th street did.

P.S. Had a nice FullTilt session this morning with a tripple up plus and am just under break even again.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Journal, Pols and other Crooks. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.