Well, I’ve copped to it. Mojo did recently. But, I have news for my readers. I think you all are. Need proof?

Here you go

Frame of reference is an interesting term. We have the one with an academic bent. The social scientist say we have one based on our reptilian brain. But, there is one that is as pervasive and colors our everyday life in a matter we aren’t aware up to the point it dates us. Most of us have reached that point. It has to do with aging. Computers, the Internet and progress have spend up that aging clock.

Learning is the key. Some of that distances some from others. That happens at a rate those aging don’t always comprehend. If only we could force kids to only watch those rerun channels and PBS, we could bring about their premature aging. That wouldn’t make us current. It just make them as boring as you and me – we old folks.

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      But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.— I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

      You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

John and I share a timing problem.  He was almost right.  My read was right two hands back and now I look like Fido's backside. 

John Adams Papers

John's use of caps was ahead of its time.  He should have saved them up to name high tech companies.  You can be high tech unless you are HiTech.  And, we can't just be Poker Stars — eliminate spaces John and you are golden.

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Part of the diagnosis is living in the past with those memories more vivid than the present. Well, it is PBS’ pledge decade week. Beside all the self help crap; ours has a series called Remembering Chicago. And, I go to living in the past. It points out the disconnect between me and most of you.

The two that set this off is “Remembering Chicago – the War Years” and “Remembering – the Boomer Years”. I slot between the two. WWII was unimportant fragments interleaved with the important things of childhood. My sisters were boomers meaning born during (draft dodgers) and just after where procreation ran rampant – making up for lost time.

Believe it or not, there were horses drawing carts – real teamsters. Well, it was the war years and there was gas rationing. So, the produce truck that delivered to Gramp’s store was powered by two horses. Of course, Obama wasn’t around so there weren’t a lot of programs. That cart had a driver and two retards special people. One of those was a huge black guy. They seemed to have more respect – self and external – working a job. Nobody made anything of it and folks went out of the way to be pleasant to them. There was a guy that had a hand cart that would come down the alley sharpening knives and scissors. There were a lot of little businesses that supported people and aren’t thought appropriate these days.

In 58 — no, not 18 wise ass — I was just out of high school. When I could put 20-30 together, we’d go downtown Chicago – Mr. Kelly’s, The London House, The Gate of Horn and a bunch of others. For a 2.50 cover and a two drink minimum, we’d see Lena Horn, Mort Saul and about every name you can mention. (Ella Fitzgerald was a dollar surcharge according to the PBS show.)The house band at the London House was Ramsey Lewis. The Gate of Horn was in a corner basement but Odetta and Josh White could be heard and that place didn’t usually even have a cover. You guys bragging about what you had to pay to see some group I never heard of has me rolling on the floor.

Yeah, I was 18 but if you put on a suit and your date wore that “little black dress” that the girls all had, you were never ever carded. Oh, and the cost of those two drinks on the minimum was way pricey. They were two-fifty a whack. The cover waived for average places/acts. Parking was three-bucks. I could pull it off with a 20, if we watched it.

Second City was in an old store front down by Lincoln Park. They turned the vacant lot next door into an outdoor beer garden that served pitchers of Sangria and the actors would cage a glass off you after the show. I watched Nichols and May drive off into the night on their Vespa motor scooter.

All that and a bunch more comes rushing back. It is how I lived and it all seemed terribly normal. It makes it hard to relate to these days. I guess we had it pretty good, if we’d ever thought about it.  Congress says we need better; that our times were primitive and uncaring.  The difference is the people then not only cared but figured out solutions without legislation being needed.

Our poor parents would be in jail these days. In the summer they drove us out onto the street – unsupervised by an adult. They drove around with loose kids in the car. The politicians they voted for would tip their hat to their constituents instead of telling them how to raise their kids. And, damned if we didn't survive and even prosper.

ADDENDUM:

As to underage drinking, I did it for the first time when I was 16 and my buddy, Parky, was 15. Again, we wore suits — the key it seems.  It was at Trader Vic's in the Palmer House and we had Planter's Punch and got a bit looped.

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I am not opposed to green energy. I’d love to see it happen. At some point there will be no choice. But it isn’t about terror or carbon banking.

The current situation is the old flawed business plan. Remember the internet bubble?

Actually, that one worked out fairly well. It wasn’t the idea was wrong.  It was that the majority of business plans weren’t based on reality. Those business were eaten. What was left was the bones and the bones were such that business and population were able to use it to obtain their goals instead of being stuck with things they didn’t particularly want but had some business idea attached.

Human nature hasn’t changed much since we figure out fire. We look for something that improves our lives. Its cost to the community is ancillary. The main operative in the decision tree is the value we see to us. Altruism comes after this fact.

It doesn’t have to work well. It just has to work to the degree we see the benefit. Microsoft has long proven this premise.

Green energy from the various sources increases cost. We can get energy for our needs. Telling us that the cost is necessary to our well being doesn’t fly. We see that it impacts the economy in a way to cause use added cost without perceived benefit.

Green vehicles are nice to a point. We can decide to not replace the SUV with its next incarnation but buy a vehicle with greater fuel economy. This isn’t acceptable to those with a green agenda. They tell us we need an all electric vehicle. Current range for those is about 100 miles. The majority will say WTF, I drive further than that at will. Even if it solved 90% of my driving, that other 10% is a deal breaker.

To get us to see their light, greens spout their facts. We recognize their vested interest and see them as skewed. Even if we’re willing to accept a major portion, we’ll let the other guy do it and stay fat, dumb, and happy.

Everything being done is done for the wrong reasons and without anything to sell us on our benefit. Lip service to their goals is easy. Maybe we recycle a bit or nod our heads. And then we do what will benefit us.

All is not lost here. Even the big energy companies with their vested interest are seeking alternatives. Those alternatives will be to their benefit with success. But, more important, they are doing it with the thought that we’ll buy their new, improved mouse trap. And, when we see the benefit, we will. Then, and only then, will green matter across the population.

Unfortunately, the current governmental environment is working toward the other end of those marketing goals. Yes, they can lead us to the water but, as the saying goes, they won’t make us drink. And, to pound home another truism, we only go where the grass is greener.  Yup, only when they’ve actually built it will we come.

And, if you think I’m wrong, I’ll offer you your own theme song from my era.

ADDENDUM:

In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg, a nerdy misfit on Harvard’s campus, was building what was then called the TheFacebook.com in his Harvard room.

He was explaining to a friend he was compiling a database of Harvard students.

“I have over 4000 emails, pictures, addresses,” Zuckerberg wrote. His friend replied: “What? How’d you manage that one?” Zuckerberg: “People just submitted it. I don’t know why. They ‘trust me’,” adding: “Dumb f . . ks.”

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‘Whether or not I agree with the guidelines, we have to follow the rules,’ said school superintendent Jack Ellis Martin Bormann.”

The state of Texas makes several exceptions but the functionaries at her middle school refuse to.

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I've had a lot more occasions where that last or late hurrah went down in flames. You reach a point where all the draws are to inside straights. That takes away a lot of bragging rights when you do connect.

I am sympathetic with Brett's treatment by the Packers. This outfit has a P.R. department that never misses using the word “TRADITION” and keeping past honors alive. Then a promising kid shows up and they can't get him to the dumpster fast enough.

So, he kept trying and this year hooked up with some magic. He found a few other over-achievers to help him cover up the flaws. He had a season like few others. It happens in every sport and in every year. The following year, well, hopefully that last one that clicked like that was a contract year. Often that's all either side ends up having to show for it.

I hope Brett sees the year for what it was: a generous gift. As a player with impeccable timing, I hope he translates that to the off season. Always leave 'em wanting more!

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I've never been a huge hand at holidays. I'd pretty much got over even
birthdays about the time I learned about Santa you-know who. It
coincided with getting really sick. A kid in my class was having a
birthday and Mom got him Tinker Toys. I said I was sick and was
accused of not wanting to go because I wanted the present. That was
only partially true. I ended up being kept alive on Penicillin long
enough for my grandparents to drag me to a warm climate. Not to
worry; I lived; I was even recovered by the time we got there.

So, after the turkey dinner, I begin shuddering on again hearing “Grandma
got run over by a Reindeer” and that shuddering continues right
up to now.

The year end is among the worst. Everybody comes up with horrid
resolutions that they won't keep but does broadcast their frailties.
Media has to recap events that were either mega horrid or boring on
the first pass. Then they throw in all the recently dead to liven the party.

It was bad enough when all this could be fled from with the clicker or
buttons under the radio. Now, it permeates the net and blogdom. My
RSS feed is like a record with a bad spot that play over and over.
The overweight are competing and repeating contrasted by the overly
grateful.

Poker News serialized their various lists of things we already knew to draw
out the pain. Michael Craig continued to define the Me Generation in
blogging with a recap of the same. And Oppie Brad provided excellent writing on our envy of his pluperfect American dream.

Alone, all this is survivable. But the aggregate turns the real world into
Groundhog's Day squared by the Intertube.

Bahh!  Humbug!

Well, with this behind us we can look forward to spring. I'm already being
inundated with seed catalogs. That'll be the new Grandma-Reindeer
type of event that'll keep running through my head until I see the
first robin.

ADDENDUM:

Well, I manage to kludge my way into the right font but munged the line formatting in the process.  Today, they provided yet another update to WordPress.  I keep installing them -- not knowing when to leave well-enough alone.  Fingers crossed....

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There is a big enough tin-foil hat crowd involved in the poker scene already. This seems a bit like another version of a random number discussion. Terms Of Service are ignored everywhere. That is the basis for all this chest pounding<>hair shirt print. Every business has one. Look on the back of a parking ticket or store receipt and you'll find yourself the second class participant.

The gist of the discussion so far is:

• Pokeratti Op Ed kickoff –Sinful acts

• Change100's response – people are competative

• Rini's industry side recap – poker rooms provide lip service like all other businesses

It is all about TOS rules. We may or may not be bound by such writing. The courts proceed to interpret just how much of that boilerplate crap is binding in a transaction. I don't shop in a Walmart because of their TOS. I found out after it cost me $600. Typical. (Buy a big ticket item there and in 14 days you are on your own, sucker!)

TOS is a form of angle shooting. It is a two way street where the house starts off with stacking the deck and the suckers then read the fine print and suckout on the next guy down the food chain. TOS is like the joke about asking the guy why he's playing in a dishonest game with the response that it the only game in town.

So, did Isildure or Brian get screwed? Folks we all get screwed every day. It is built into the game of life. Even when you download freeware you click on a TOS agreement to install it. From there on up the deck's even more stacked.

With small exceptions, I'll go with Rini's analysis of liability in the mess. I'll disagree with the stake part. Few pros, if any, are using reasonable money management at these stakes. You don't stake a ring player that won't use it. I know. I did. (I got damn lucky but that's what it was – damn luck.)

I've got a copy of Poker Tracker Stud. It is presumed legit under the TOS. It even tries to analyse the data. Good Luck! It sucks. If you want to turn it into reasonable information, plan on doing a lot of grunt work. Yes, people do that. Is it wrong? Lazy asses like myself may cry foul to cover up our inadequacies. Tough, my fellow lazy asses.

Brian Hastings did the same thing every one of us does. He ignored the fine print. But he wasn't the lazy ass in the mess. Although, he joined a host of others at playing over their heads and bankrolls. That everyone's personal option. Just don't whine about it after. Nuff sed.

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"In May 1789, LouisXVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the Estate Generals. The First Estate consisted of three hundred clergy. The Second Estate, three hundred nobles. The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'" – Jeffery Archer

They seem to like the term as much as they do citing the Bill of Rights. But, the consultants have really mucked it up. The first consultants did their number here on Channel 7. It was happy talk news and screwy ads showing them marching across the countryside like a drunken boy scout troop. They have since taken that further and further.

We had a killing of a student struck with a big-ass two by four  happen a couple of months ago. Somebody captured it on a cell phone. It has appeared at least once a week since. They've made someone's death plebeian at this point.

There is this kitten on YouTub that does something cute. I have seen that three times in fewer days. Well, I guess it beat the obligatory repeats of some jock who manages to have his leg flapping at the knee. The lack of animals plying the streets made them scramble to find a different dead horse to show being beat.

Our local PBS now has news. We're an adjunct of the Chicago market and are poor cousins. I understand why although when they do the occasional story or show a temperature over here they could at least put the dot on the right area of the map. So I had high hope for decent, local coverage.

They had a small staff that has grown and grown. Nobody seems to get fired but the story stay pretty plebeian. They hired an aging newsreader who'd been a small market player. Here name is Jody but I call her Giggles. If I were a stand up comic (no snide remarks) I'd hire her as an audience shill. She isn't alone; the major market has several just like her. I don't think Edward R. Murrow would get hired by the consultants these days – too dour. You need to yuck it up, Eddie.

Anyway, our local news could be easily stolen from the Indianapolis Star. There is a lot happening in our state and a good bit of it is important news. Indiana is solvent and staying that way. Sadly, they cover school board meeting and politicians with strange ideas. Well, at least that's close to straight reporting but it deserves far more. Lake county has often gotten the title of most corrupt county in the nation -- eat your hearts out Louisiana.

We had a referendum last month. It was state mandated. I voted.  Only item on the ballot and the cost was over $100K to do it. It was defeated like 87:13. You'd have thought that'd generate some interesting coverage. Nope. They didn't have a clue beforehand or after. BTW, we turned down millions in federal aid to establish commuter rail. And we're in a solid Democratic area that you'd think would jump at the free 'jobs' money being offered. We've a congressmen that under serious investigation and the last I saw of him was him speaking at a jobs fair or such.

I think I'm going to disagree with the reason they are called the fourth estate. My guess is it is because they always finish out of the money.

ADDENDUM:

Speaking of overkill reporting:

1. Tiger's new movie is out: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hydrant.

2. Apparently the police asked Tiger's wife how many times she hit him. She said "I don't know exactly , but put me down for a 5."

3. Tiger Woods is so rich that he owns lots of expensive cars. Now he has a hole-in-one.

4. What's the difference between a car and a golf ball? Tiger can drive a ball 400 yards.

5. What were Tiger Woods and his wife doing out at 2.30 in the morning? They went clubbing!

6. Tiger Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree. He couldn't decide between a wood and an iron.

7. Phil Mickelson contacted Tiger's wife to pick up some tips on how to beat Tiger!

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