My lesson in ping-pong...Chinese style.

So today I was schooled in ping-pong by the Chinese guys that sit next to me a work.

And when I say "schooled," I mean I was worked over like a little girl trying to play basketball on a court in the streets of Philly...it was ugly.

To be sure, I knew said ass kicking was coming because (a) they had their own paddles (in their own case/bag like a tennis racket) and (b) one of the guys asked me if I was really going to play in my flip-flops!

Also, I tried playing with one of their offered personal paddles, but it was oddly too padded and I was hitting balls awkwardly. I had to switch to one of the "shitty paddles" that Google had with the table - though I felt it was a nice normal paddle and much more like what I was used to playing with.


I might take a video tomorrow so you guys can see what I am talking about...think Forest Gump...twas not much fun to try and play (or defend myself!) against them, but it was fun to watch.

I don't think ping-pong is taken as seriously here as there, but I most definitely ended the event by challenging them all to a game of beer-pong at their earliest convenience :-)

Hey...I just said something and I'm gonna quote myself....haha, toot! toot!

"Religion is like one big joke that most people never get..." Me, 06/04/10

Mark Twain's Predictions...

After a 100 year delayed request by the author, Mark Twain's autobiography comes out this year :-)

With that information, I figured I'd share a prediction he had:

"I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together." Mark Twain (1909)


His prediction was accurate – Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth.

I don't want this to just become me posting Quotes....but...

"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited to long to make..." - unknown

I know I have been quote crazy, but I liked this...



And I promise to finish the TWO posts I have started to write...soon.

Random Quote of the day...

The importance of context:

“Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.”

- James Madison

A point to ponder...

Just a quick word...

Yep, It is LATE. I can not sleep.

But, I just realized...


WORLD CUP 2010 is exactly 1 month away...SCORE!

This is the story of my life...

Seriously...luck is always AGAINST me.

Knowing this, maybe from now on I should plan accordingly...



From an online poker game:

PokerStars Game #43897413274: Tournament #271460707
Table '271460707 5' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: lshel (19353 in chips)

(This player has been playing loose the entire tourney)

Seat 3: ithinkchaos (26032 in chips)
Seat 6: CRAZY.DONG (22115 in chips)
lshel: posts the ante 75
ithinkchaos: posts the ante 75
CRAZY.DONG: posts the ante 75
CRAZY.DONG: posts small blind 600
lshel: posts big blind 1200

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to lshel [8h 7c]
Dealt to ithinkchaos [Js 9s]
ithinkchaos: raises 1200 to 2400
Dealt to lshel [8h 7c]

(This is where I raise DOUBLE the big blind)

CRAZY.DONG: folds
lshel: calls 1200

(This is where he calls with 8, 7 off suit - makes sense)


*** FLOP *** [8c Jd 4d]
lshel: bets 16878 and is all-in

(Here he pushes all-in w/ middle pair, NO kicker)

ithinkchaos: calls 16878

(This is where I call him w/ top pair)

When I call him and the cards are shown, I believe I am in a FIRM lead with my top pair to his 8's with a 7 kicker...if only I took in to account MY luck. If only...

*** TURN *** [8c Jd 4d] [8d]

(This is where god hates me and he trips up on his 8's)

The only card that can save me is if a Jack comes. That means there are only 2 cards in the entire deck that can make me win, every SINGLE other card will result with my loss...

*** RIVER *** [8c Jd 4d 8d] [7h]

ithinkchaos said, "hahahahahaha"

This card, however NOT needed to secure the win for Ishel, is proof that there is a god and that he/she/it/whatever is not a huge fan of me.

In other words: This card was a COMPLETE slap to the face.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

lshel: shows [8h 7c] (a full house, Eights full of Sevens)
ithinkchaos: shows [Js 9s] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
lshel collected 39381 from pot
ithinkchaos said, "story"
ithinkchaos said, "of"
ithinkchaos said, "my"
ithinkchaos said, "life"

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 39381 | Rake 0
Board [8c Jd 4d 8d 7h]
Seat 1: lshel (big blind) showed [8h 7c] and won (39381) with a full house, Eights full of Sevens
Seat 3: ithinkchaos (button) showed [Js 9s] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Seat 6: CRAZY.DONG (small blind) folded before Flop

Hence, this is the story of my life...

Random Quote of the day...

"Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular, but reason remains ever the property of the few." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The man speaks the truth, n'est-ce pas?


(Just a note: I will be using this quote again in a full posting that I am writing now)

Cinco de Why?

On this most sacred of days, May 5th (more popularly referred to as Cinco de Mayo), it occurs to me that the American people just need an excuse to drink. And what better day or reason than to help celebrate with our neighbors in Mexico on their Independence Day?

Oh, what's that you say? Mexican Independence day is not until September 16th? I am willing to bet if you go to any local Mexican bar/restaurant and ask the people, that are steadily consuming alcoholic beverages there, why they are drinking, they will probably all tell you the same thing: Mexican Independence Day!

Wrong. Nope. Not even close. Any other guesses? Probably not...well, you might get some extremely intelligent people that will say the Alamo. *face-palm*

So what then are these Americans celebrating exactly? It makes perfect sense when you get down to it...or not:

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of a minuscule victory in a battle of the Mexican army over the French - that, in the long run, did not make any difference in the out come of the war.

(Warning: History lesson in next paragraph, so skip if history bores you.)

Let's go back almost 150 years ago to the year 1861. Mexico was not in the best of economic situations Mexican President Benito Juárez stopped making interest payments to countries that Mexico owed money to. In response, France attacked Mexico to force payment of this debt. France decided that it would try to take over and occupy Mexico. France was successful at first in its invasion; however, on May 5, 1862, at the city of Puebla, Mexican forces were able to defeat an attack by the larger French army.

Although the Mexican army was victorious over the French at Puebla, the victory only delayed the French advance on Mexico City. A year later, the French occupied Mexico.

Viva la Revolution.

American Idiots...

It truly amazes me how so MANY Americans do not have a clue as to the Capital of Canada...ask around...no one knows. Do you???

Random Quote of the day...

"When balancing a bottle of nitroglycerin on the point of a sword, never complicate the task by trying to tap dance..." - Dean Koontz in Life Expectancy

Random Quote of the day...

"I believe things can't make themselves impossible. If they could then there'd be nothing to stop the whole universe from descending into chaos." - Stephen Hawking

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1269288/STEPHEN-HAWKING-How-build-time-machine.html##ixzz0mtOcAfzR

Random Quote of the day...

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."
- JD Rockefeller

HR Block: the bad and the good...

This was my dealings with HR Block:

Your transcript is shown below.
You have been connected to James W..
James W.: Hello and Welcome to the H&R Block support Chat site. I Am James and would like to extend a heart felt thank you for choosing H&R Block we are proud to have you as a client. Please allow me a moment to review the information you have given me here?
James W.: First I am going to need to verify some information? Is this the e-mail address as listed on the return? I am also going to need you to verify your
Full name:
Address:
Date of Birth:
Last four of the social security number on the return :
Phone number:
please?
Marc : Marc************
Marc : **************
Marc : **************
Marc : **************
James W.: Thank you.
James W.: Do you know your username please?
Marc : **************
Marc : I literally went through everything and it said i successfully reset my password
Marc : but then it wouldnt let me log in
Marc : and now Im locked out for the next 20 mins
Marc : maybe 10 now
James W.: The username is correct.
James W.: **************
James W.: Is this your security question please?
James W.: What was the name of your elementary school?
Marc : yes
Marc : desoto trail
James W.: Do you remember anything, that is correct.
James W.: desoto trail
Marc : ???
James W.: Is there anything else we are able to assist you with today?
Marc : um
Marc : you havent assisted me yet.
Marc : Marc : I literally went through everything and it said i successfully reset my password
Marc : but then it wouldnt let me log in
Marc : and now Im locked out for the next 20 mins
James W.: desoto trail (***See Note***)
Marc : let me sum it up
Marc : I would like to log in
Marc : please help
James W.: You will have to wait the 20 minutes I am not able to reset the password.
Marc : ok
Marc : i know
James W.: I do apologize for the inconvenienc
Marc : my problem was that i DID reset the password and it didnt let me log in
Marc : why didnt it work?
Marc : why will it work if i do ALL of that again, just the same way?
James W.: I do not know just remember that everything is case sensitive.

---

(***See Note***): I left in this answer because of the complete randomness that he inserts it into the conversation.

I have obviously changed my security question.

---

I found this funny and posted a tweet about how ridiculous online "chat assistance" is on websites (had problems with multiple other sites). Here is my tweet:

Why is it that every online chat "assistant" is a freaking moron @HRBLOCK you suck. Asked me if I needed anything ELSE when hadnt helped yet

Surprisingly, H&R Block had immediate response time (and on today of all days!!!). I am HIGHLY impressed with their care for customer service. Here is their tweet not 12 mins later:

@ithinkchaos Marc, I'm here to help! DM your contact info and let's get this taken care of! ^KG

I am extremely impressed. I was only slightly pissed at you for the chat session. You guys still rock!

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts...

I am proud of my Greek heritage, but this is no proud day for Greece:

"Greece has a budget deficit of almost 13 percent of gross domestic product. It has borrowed too much money for too long. Worse, rather than using that money to invest in improving the efficiency of its economy, it has blown it on lavish public spending and generous welfare benefits." - Matthew Lynn with Bloomberg News

Hmmm...sound familiar? Maybe we should accept this gift of foreshadowing that Greece has provided and DO SOMETHING about it!

Here are some intersting statistics:

In less than 3 years the US's Deficit spending (as a percent GDP) as gone from 1.14% (in 2007) to a whopping 10.54% (projected 2010 total)!!! Even if you don't want a projection and use the actual record from 2009, it had risen to 9.91%...in 2 years!

Say what you will about W Bush (even I thought he did some questionable things), but at least he was some what fiscally responsible...for awhile I used to believe that a lot of what was happening to Obama's administration was inherited problems from Bush.

Obama and the very Liberal Democrats are in serious need of a paradigm shift. Their heads are in the clouds and they are just daydreaming if they think the economy can go on like this for much longer. We simply can not pay for everything that our socialist President wants for our country.

"...rather than using that money to invest in improving the efficiency of its economy, it has blown it on lavish public spending and generous welfare benefits."

Wake up and smell the roses! Just because, "Yes We Can" doesn't mean we should.

We are by no means out of the woods either. Obama brags about the sharp increase of jobs in the first quarter 2010...how many were Federal Census jobs that are only temporary? The census is a large undertaking and has provided a lot of jobs at a critical time. But these jobs are not permanent and they are absolutely not indicative of an improving economy.

What is even worse is the fact that every recession for the past 30 plus years has been preceded by an increase in the price of energy. What happened right before the "great" recession we find ourselves in today? Oil reached a record high of nearly $150 per barrel in the middle of 2008! And it had never broken the $100 mark before that rise. Hmmm, highest energy costs ever followed by the worst recession in 70 years? I only bring this up to strengthen my point that the dark times are far from over: Energy costs are on the rise again (back up to $85/barrel).

The economy barely survived this last recession (if it can even be called over) and even then it was by massive amounts of spending by the Federal government; money borrowed from tomorrow without plans of getting it back...

"...rather than using that money to invest in improving the efficiency of its economy, it has blown it on lavish public spending and generous welfare benefits."

It's a pity we didn't invest in making the economy more efficient rather than pouring money into becoming socialistic.

How will we survive where we are currently headed? The answer is, quite simply, we won't. Something needs to be done now to change our direction and curb the actions of our out-of-control government.

And the answer is simple: austerity.

I wonder if Obama or the Liberals on the Hill even know what that word means...

An EPIC WIN if ever there was one....hahaha

I went to download Server 2008 from MS's site...using IE8:





DENIED!


Ok then....what about Firefox:




The definition of EPIC WIN!

Classic Microsoft...


That's all. It cracked me up pretty good, so I had to share.

Riders of the Storm...

I bought a motorcycle this weekend.

More out of necessity for transportation than anything else.

Shit is scary as hell. Hopefully I will not be riding for longer than is needed.

But still, it does have an appeal to it :-)

deep...

"One looks everywhere
for something to lean on.

One is charmed by the hope
of having found it.

Turns out to be a dream
in which the harsh facts...

are scattered with the rude awakening."



From the movie "If Lucy Fell" and supposedly credited to an author named Marie Ann Du Daffand (but I can't find anything about her).

Truth:

"The fundamental problem with America's immigration system is that it forces Americans to justify to their government why they want to bring someone into the country, instead of requiring the government to justify to them why they can't. Uncle Sam is less gatekeeper, more social engineer. Instead of focusing on keeping out those who pose a genuine security or public health risk-- the only immigration policy consistent with ideals of limited government -- it is driven, among other things, by a need to manage labor market flows and the national demographic makeup."

-Shikha Dalmia


Yep.

hmmm....

I did not mean for this blog to be so political. I started it to write again and to get out my thoughts/feelings. It seems in such times as these, I am completely taken with the way our society is headed and how people can be so completely blind.

Ayn Rand has got to be spinning in her grave.

Actually, she would probably smugly say, "told you so" and then shed a tear for that which WAS the American ideology.

Education Reform: Florida Attacks Teacher Tenure (About time...)

My thoughts on the much needed and half passed Education reform in Florida: abolishing teacher tenure and substituting a merit pay system.

I read this comment on an article about said subject and it really got to me:

Quote:
"Teacher's cannot and do not create wealth and cannot be measured in such ways. This is why merit pay is a fallacy."

You could not be further from the truth my friend.

Teachers can and DO create "wealth" - in fact that's their job. When you create wealth you are essentially creating capital, and that capital is in turn invested to create more wealth. In this case, we are talking about HUMAN capital. Why do people go to college? To increase their wealth of knowledge or their human capital. That same question can be applied more broadly: why do people want/need education? To increase their human capital.

Monetary Profit does not (yet) enter this equation. As you said, and hopefully is the case, most teachers enter the profession to pass along knowledge more than to make a killing of a salary. Sadly, with tenure the career choice also attracts those who just want job security and don't care about teaching. Merit pay a fallacy? Hardly. With a merit pay system those teachers who were truly attracted to teaching will be rewarded for good teaching and those who didnt now have a great incentive to better their teaching. Personal profit now enters the equation. You could choose the career for the most benevolent of reasons but the fact remains that you would always prefer making more money to less.

Creating incentives for teachers to do a better job is the only way to save our great nation. 50 years ago, the USA was unparalleled in academic achievement. Now? We are mediocre. How does it make any sense that in Washington DC school district over 50% of middle/high school students were deemed as being behind grade levels, while less than 0.1% of teachers in DC were fired due to poor performance (from a Newsweek article).

Something needs to be done to save our children's education (and therefore our nation's future), and tenure is not helping it is hurting. Merit Pay systems fix this, plain and simple.

It was also mentioned that a merit system would be unfair for a teacher of a higher subject because the students they get are ill-prepared (Example given was Algebra 2 teacher getting students who barely know Algebra 1 and having to waste time catching them up)... Benchmarks solve this conundrum: test at the beginning of the year and at the end, if significant improvement then the teacher DID something, if NO improvement (which is currently the norm) then the teacher just held onto their job.


In short: this is MUCH NEEDED Education reform - it is NOT the end of teachers and schools, it is the end of bad teachers and bad schools.



The Nobel Laureate Economist Milton Friedman said, "In our current educational system, close to 30 percent of the youngsters who start high school never finish. They are condemned to low-income jobs. They are condemned to a situation in which they are going to be at the bottom. That leads in turn to a divisive society; it leads to a stratified society rather than one of general cooperation and general understanding. It is a disgrace that in a country like the United States, 30 percent of youngsters never graduate from high school. And I haven't even mentioned those who drop out in elementary school. It's a disgrace that there are so many people who can't read and write. It's hard for me to see how we can continue to maintain a decent and free society if a large subsection of that society is condemned to poverty and to handouts."



It is more than time we did something.

haha, nice.

"A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip." -- Caskie Stinnett

Tyrants's Task

"The task of the tyrant is not to compel, but to persuade even the unwilling that compliance better serves their interest than resistance"-OSC, from 'Ender in Exile'

Time to get cliche people...

It has to be done: my two cents on the "historic event" that happened today when the democrats kicked themselves out of office...

Sure, there are several ways to look at this bill (H.R.4872) - in other words, lots of gaping holes to poke it through. But I will stay with the simplest one to understand and the most blaring problem to go unaddressed by the White House....and that is the Individual Mandate for health care and a term we economists like to refer to as Adverse Selection.

The Economist ( www.economist.com ) defines Adverse Selection as:

When you do business with people you would be better off avoiding. This is one of two main sorts of market failure often associated with insurance. The other is moral hazard. Adverse selection can be a problem when there is asymmetric information between the seller of insurance and the buyer; in particular, insurance will often not be profitable when buyers have better information about their risk of claiming than does the seller. Ideally, insurance premiums should be set according to the risk of a randomly selected person in the insured slice of the population (55-year-old male smokers, say). In practice, this means the average risk of that group. When there is adverse selection, people who know they have a higher risk of claiming than the average of the group will buy the insurance, whereas those who have a below-average risk may decide it is too expensive to be worth buying. In this case, premiums set according to the average risk will not be sufficient to cover the claims that eventually arise, because among the people who have bought the policy more will have above-average risk than below-average risk. Putting up the premium will not solve this problem, for as the premium rises the insurance policy will become unattractive to more of the people who know they have a lower risk of claiming. One way to reduce adverse selection is to make the purchase of insurance compulsory, so that those for whom insurance priced for average risk is unattractive are not able to opt out.

...sigh... Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard - two sides of the same coin that destroys an individual mandate for Health care (insurance).

The young people will only get health insurance (and pay a fine lesser than the cost of health insurance) when they get sick because now they can not be refused for prior illness. Adverse Selection is achieved: only the sick get health insurance (when they actually need it). Moral hazard would be what we see in Canada with increase queue times for getting treatment - because EVERYONE with insurance will goto the doctor for any little reason, because why not?

SIGH. So many ways to reform health care...SO MANY WAYS...and we choose to slowly strangle the health care system to death. I guess that is one sort of reform. Thanks Obama! Way to put your presidential weight behind something SO productive, that will create jobs and lessen deficit spending....oh wait.

I call it now, Obama signed his pink slip for serving only 1 term as president when he signed the dotted line on the "Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R.4872).

Moron.

ithinkchaos beginnings...

This blog title is a tribute to my 'handle' for almost everything online: ithinkchaos. I just recently googled my 'handle' and it was very interesting/fun. Much more cool than googling my name...My online identity is more popular than my real identity - go figure.

At any rate, I have decided to start 'blogging' again because it was a nice release for me before - back when blogging didn't have a name and I just wrote my thoughts on www.livejournal.com

So yeah, more to come.