Posted 9:56 PM by Floyd

Yesterday was "root causes" day at the Merc, which printed this shameful editorial. I reprint one paragraph which cries out for mockery:

To its credit, the administration is moving in the right direction on at least one diplomatic front. U.S. troops plan to leave Saudi Arabia, one of the most fertile breeding grounds for terrorists. With their departure, America will be further away from a conflict between the country's conservative monarchy and its even more conservative Islamic clerics who have long incited terrorists.

Hey asshat, the US announced that it would leave Arabia Deserta before the attacks. Did this do us any good?

(It is true that the next statement in the editorial is "The promise of troop withdrawals wasn't enough to prevent Monday's attack, whose target was not just America but the Saudi regime itself." This is not negate my criticism; it is merely evidence that the Merc's editorial writers are lazy, sloppy, and want to have their cake and eat it too.)

Posted 3:55 PM by Floyd

Jesse Walker hit and ran an attack on some bloggers' doubts as to the veracity of Salam Pax (everyone's favorite Baghdad blogger):

They offer a number of reasons for this thesis, but their case boils down to this: Salam Pax's posts do not reflect our worldview. To reassess our worldview would be a terrible hardship. Therefore, his posts are lies.

Mr. Walker was too clever for his own good. It took only 69 minutes for someone to respond with the obvious reply:

I don't have a dog in the Salam Pax fight, but Jesse, you have seriously, and I'd guess deliberately, misrepresented the couple of artices I'VE read.

Why?

I can only guess, but presumably because THEY don't match YOUR worldview.

Posted 10:35 PM by Floyd

While on the subject of The Matrices, I will relate my two main objections to the original movie:

First, all the fight scenes where the heroes stop time and lay waste to their (simulated) human opponents strike me as cowardly at best. Should I film myself slicing up the banana slugs in my yard? The Columbine massacre rubbed this in our faces: Was it really cool when two people dressed up in trenchcoats and blew away everyone in sight?

Second, White committed more race-pandering blather when he praised the Oracle:

When Gloria Foster returns as the Oracle, reiterating the sexy mama act that was so astonishing the first time...

B-U-L-L-F-U-C-K-I-N-G-S-H-I-T. The Oracle character was mawkish and appeared to have been conceived while channel-surfing late at night and happening upon the Psychic Hotline. I remember watching Foster in the theater, already sullen after numerous insults to my intelligence, and thinking, "I suppose this counts as restraint. I expected to see Whoopi Goldberg."

Posted 10:23 PM by Floyd

While reading the New York Press I happened upon this review by Armond White of The Matrix: Reloaded. White makes a lot of good points ("Reloaded could just as well be retitled PlayStation Forever!"). Unfortunately he squanders any appreciation I might have felt with his dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks musings on race:

The Matrix had held some modicum of fascination for its critique of social domination–an unexpectedly snazzy appropriation of Baudrillard’s social theories and human-rights revolts by people of color. (Neo was drafted by Morpheus to save his enslaved tribe.) Not even Tarantino was as sly as the Wachowskis when it comes to combining politics with genre. The Matrix’s mix of anti-slavery sentiment with sci-fi dazzle brought it the closest any Hollywood film has ever come to true, underground subversion. Defending subcultural living ("Free your mind") by validating alienation and teaching biracial Neo the holy benefits of political skepticism, The Matrix was the kind of hit Walter Hill might envy: universal human dilemma viewed through an ethnic template while at the same time distilling a genre to its essence.

I'm glad to see that the Matrix is taking the bold stand that it is opposed to slavery. (Sometimes you've got to stand up for what's right, no matter what the monetary cost.) But I wonder who constitutes the pro-slavery faction? I know little of Klansmen or the Turner Diaries crowd, but I don't think they are officially pro-slavery. Was the Matrix shipped clandestinely to the Sudan?

Imagine if White held analagous views with respect to, say, hygiene or ground transport. He would bask in his own self-regard as he propounded, no matter what the risk to his life and limb, that people should wash at least once a week, or that auto-mobiles should be allowed to drive at speeds exceeding five miles an hour.

Posted 9:35 PM by Floyd

Here are two interesting hands from last Tuesday's STAC.

E/W Vul Matchpoints Dealer: East	— 8 7 4 Q T 8 6 K Q T 6 5 4	Lead:8
Floyd A K J T 7 6 4 Q J 7 4 3 J		Sherry Q 9 8 2 K 2 A K 9 5 8 7 2
	5 3 A T 9 6 5 3 J 2 A 9 3	Result: Making 5 Score: +650

West   1 4		North   2 Pass		East 1 2 Pass		South 1 3 Pass

Defensive carding is a key part of the game. However no matter what your methods, you never play a card that could blow a trick (unless the alternative blows more tricks!). South forgot that rule on this hand.

I was West and was declaring 4. North led a high heart, and I ducked in dummy. RHO won the ace and cashed A. Her partner encouraged with the T, so she continued clubs. But which club? It is normal to lead back high from doubleton spot cards; South therefore continued with the 9.

This was not a good idea.

I ruffed high, pulled trumps, cashed K and started running trumps. In the four-card ending I had three small diamonds and the last trump, which I played. North had three diamonds to the queen and the only club higher than dummy's eight. Dummy had AK9 and 8. North had the only guard in either minor, so whatever she pitched, I would pitch the other minor and take the rest. Making 5 was an excellent score.

If South returns the 3 at trick three, her partner can pitch all her high clubs and guard diamonds.

Second hand later today.