Open Blog
— Ace

Gotta run. Going to a big poker tourney tonight, I think.

Arrgh: Finished in the money, fifth place out of maybe thirty. Sucked, though, because I was up in chips late in the game but this one guy had my number. I didn't believe him when he had be beat, lost an all-in bet; then, when I had pocket kings and an ace showed on the flop, he bet big, and I did believe him and turned in my hand... he had a five-fuckin'-three. He destroyed me. I just cannot get a read on him. He bets big with good cards; he bets big with shit. Basically, he bets big. It's a mystery whether he's sitting on pocket queens or an 8-3 offsuit.

What makes it worse is that I'm a good short-handed player and most of the people in the end didn't seem to know the difference between regular play and short-hand play. From playing in tourneys on-line, I know I almost always win once it's down to three because people just don't understand the power of position in a short game. In regular poker, you're playing your cards; short-handed, you're playing position, not quite exclusively but pretty much so.

So, I thought I could win. Didn't. Since she's probably going to blog about it, I don't think it's letting out secrets to note that Ari Goes Down won after being very, very down late in the game. I was happy for her to win, partly because I was sitting next to her and she had a very cool tendency to consistency fold her small blinds and let me have them. Pretty nice to consistently get back your small blinds for nothing at all.

Posted by: Ace at 03:05 PM | Comments (32)
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Obama Leads Hillary Huge In Texas, 57% to 43%
— Ace

Don't mess with Texas.

It's even worse than that, actually. Because of the way the voting and delegate allotment is set up, Obama could actually afford to lose the popular vote in Texas and still win the most delegates, because the districts he carries would give him most of their delegates whereas Hillary's winning districts would barely give her an edge.

With Obama well out in front... well, it's going to be ugly.

UPDATE: [Dave in Texas] I'm still looking for my card here. I wonder how I tell them I'm a Democrat at the high school?

Posted by: Ace at 12:32 PM | Comments (43)
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Barack Hussein Obama's Terrorist Buddies
— Ace

You may remember William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Shortly after 9/11, if I'm remembering right, the NYT did a puff piece about these former Weather Underground terrorists -- bomb-planters -- who were now university professors (shocker, huh) and utterly unrepentant over their terrorist past.

“I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough,” Ayers told the New York Times in 2001.

Turns out they helped launch Obama's political career and the three are the bestest of friends.

Even lefty blogger Taylor Marsh is troubled:

This is the vein in the Democratic party I will never understand, cannot accept on any level. What is it about some people who just donÂ’t get the problems with our Democratic nominee being friendly, even taking a contribution (however small), as well as having a meeting as recently as 1995 with an unrepentant domestic terrorist like William Ayers? It reveals a lack of seriousness about the issue of terrorism and the dangerously immature judgment of anyone who is going to associate with a man, at the very least, that Republicans will use to beat us over the head with, having the bonus of hitting a spot the public loves to drink up, which is that our party is not serious about the dangers we face in this world.

What it further reveals is that Barack Hussein Obama doesn't find a bit of terrorism and bombing morally objectionable, so long as the folks doing the terrorizing and bombing have the right pseudointellectual credentials and establishment-approved list of grievances.

A lot of Al Qaeda fits that description, as it turns out.

Allah:

[H]ereÂ’s an intellectual exercise for you[:] As you read, substitute McCain and, say, Eric Rudolph for Obama and Ayres and see if you think youÂ’ve got a story the media might take some interest in.

Let me ask everyone a question: A man brutally murders his wife. Fifteen years pass, and now he's paroled.

He invites you to a party to discuss business possibilities with you. He does have money, and he could actually offer you some decent opportunities.

Do you go? Or do you not even dignify this murderer with a "no"?

For some reason, the hard left -- of which Barack Hussein Obama appears increasingly to be a part -- feels that there is some distinction between a terrorist and a murderer, and while the murderer perhaps should be socially ostracized, one can still do business with, and pal around with, the terrorist.

Why they believe this is a question no one in the MSM has bothered to ask them.

I imagine the answer provided -- were the question ever to actually be asked -- would be as illuminating as it is chilling.

Posted by: Ace at 12:24 PM | Comments (58)
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Comatose Woman Miraculously Recovers Just As Doctors About To Pull Plug;
Doctors Baffled, Husband Curses His Bad Luck
— Ace

Just kidding. He gave her a "bloody good rollicking," which I guess means he tried to shake her awake upon hearing the doctor's plan.*

* Although to me a "bloody good rollicking" sounds like code for him fucking coma-lady but he doctors caught him so he tried to play it off by sticking an IV in her snootch and yelling "LIVE!! Live, damn you!! LIVE!!!"

Posted by: Ace at 11:20 AM | Comments (39)
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Polish Performers Demonstrate Amazing Feats of Strength, Homoerotic Yearnings
— Ace

spongeworthy says this would wind up being the second or third gayest thing I've ever posted on this site (not sure whether the lesbian busty porn counts as "gay," though it is, technically, gay).

I don't know. Is this something? more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:13 AM | Comments (42)
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B-2 Stealth Bomber Crashes; Pilots Unharmed; Armaments Did NOT Include Sens. Kerry, Biden, and Hagel
— Ace

The plane crashed because the pilots were attempting to hijack necessary weapons and equipment from a passing Cesna.

A B-2 stealth bomber plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on Saturday, the first time one crashed, but both pilots ejected safely, Air Force officials said.

The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii.

At least one B-2 bomber had taken off safely from Andersen Air Force Base but was brought back when another aircraft plunged to the ground.

There were no injuries on the ground or damage to buildings, and no munitions were on board. Each B-2 bomber costs about $1.2 billion to build.

Yeah, I know. For that $1.2 billion we could have built like ten schools.

Guys? Hate to burst your bubble, but schools cannot fly and drop bombs on brown people.

So I don't understand the point.

Thanks to Cuffy and Report on Arrakis.

Posted by: Ace at 10:01 AM | Comments (37)
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Hope Is Lost: Enzyte Owners Convicted of Fraud; Turns Out That Little Pill Really Can't Give You an Extra Boost
— Ace

On the plus side, there should be a class action lawsuit coming presently, from which I imagine I'd be owed, oh, I don't know, perhaps 10% of the monies recovered.

Bob isn't smiling anymore:

federal court jury on Friday found the owner of a company that sells "male enhancement" tablets and other herbal supplements guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Steve Warshak, whose conviction was reported Friday by The Cincinnati Enquirer, is founder and president of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which distributes Enzyte and a number of products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid restful sleep.

Television ads for Enzyte feature "Smiling Bob," a goofy, grinning man whose life gets much better after he uses the product, which allegedly boosted his sexual performance.

Warshak, 40, could face more than 20 years in prison and his company could have to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.

...

Prosecutors claimed customers were bilked out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and the company's refusal to accept returns or cancel orders. They said unauthorized credit card charges generated thousands of complaints over unordered products.

Warshak's mother, Harriett Warshak, also was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.

$100 million?

Crazy class-action-lawsuit money, here I come!

More here.

I'll miss the commercials. They were pretty funny.

Thanks to Michael.

Posted by: Ace at 09:10 AM | Comments (34)
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A Nuanced Take On Obama's Captain
— Ace

Bob Krumm writes Obama's claims are wrong in detail but right in overall thrust -- but he's still wrong,.

The personnel problems were caused by an antiquated individual replacement system which Bush and Rumsfeld fixed over the objections of the senior military chiefs, and supply problems in Afghanistan are not caused by Iraq so much as they're caused b "trying to resupply an operation at the end of an 8,000 mile supply chain the last 1,000 miles of which is by tactical air and then by ground through the most austere and remote environment on the planet."

The left wishes to reduce Obama's statement to the uncontroversial assertion that supply in theater is difficult. But that's not what he said. He claimed that US soldiers were actually forced to capture enemy weaponry for lack of their own, and that soldiers were plucked out of his unit for deployment in Iraq. The first isn't true by the Captain's own admission and the latter seems extremely doubtful.

Posted by: Ace at 09:01 AM | Comments (77)
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Turks move against PKK in Iraq
— Purple Avenger

Sounds like a major effort.

Thousands of Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq to hunt Kurdish rebels, television and a military source said on Friday, escalating a conflict that could undermine [PA - or vastly enhance stability if the Turks succeed and leave afterwards] stability in the region.

Turkey's military said the cross-border offensive, possibly the largest in a decade, would continue until they had stopped the threat from PKK rebels, who have been using northern Iraq as a base to stage attacks in Turkey.

It said in a statement 24 PKK rebels and five soldiers were killed in clashes in Iraq. It also said at least 20 rebels were killed in separate aerial attacks.

The United States urged Turkey, a key regional ally, to limit its offensive to precise PKK targets and to bring the operation to a swift conclusion. Iraq's government called on Turkey to respect its sovereignty and to avoid any military action which would threaten security...

The Iraqi govt reaction sounds rather ummm...unoutraged. In fact it sounds rather like a tacit approval when combined with the US response. The PKK have been a PITA for all parties involved and their commie basis has no viable place in the political development of the Kurd area which has become a rather vibrant capitalist economy lately. If the Turks crush the PKK, there's very few who will cry for them. Their demise will enhance the security of both Iraq and Turkey, and Iran as well.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 06:36 PM | Comments (11)
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Star Trek: The Sex Generation
— Ace

I don't like ST:TNG, but I gotta tell you, the more this grinds on, the funnier it gets.

Thanks to Asher. Vid below the fold.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 05:50 PM | Comments (36)
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