I'm moving, and it's turning in to a horrible fiasco. Today at any rate. I get up early to go pick up a rental truck at Budget, get home, take a nap. Figure my roommate will get up eventually and we'll load the truck with his stuff that was going to his parents' basement. Problem #1, he didn't get up till 4 and didn't really get reaqdy tp load the truck till like 8. So we load the truck, and the damn ramp won't slide back in. Two hours later we finally got it back and drove a couple of miles to his parents' house, unloaded the stuff pretty quick and were ready to go. I'm backing the truck down the driveway with the other guy outside giving me directions on when to turn and such, and smack! Hit a tree branch or something which caused their phone and cable lines to hang down to about 6'. blocking the truck from going any further. I was all good with finding a long stick and holding the wires up so we could finish getting the truck out, but the homeowners didn't like that. So they called BellSouth, and we got a ride home from the little sister, whose car was parked on the street. So now we have to wait until early afternoon for the wires to get fixed. Just not a fun weekend. Add to that the stress I've had with finding an internship, the first week of classes, and my father's recent surgery, and I could really use a break! Too bad I just finished one.

I saw a great quote on Slashdot today:

Interns are cheaper than actual solutions.

I bought books for class today. Over $300. I have one book called "Futures, Options, and Swaps" that is the thickest textbook I have ever used, and I get to carry it around all day since I took Marta down here and don't get out of class until 9:45. Fun.

My precious alma mater, Georgia Tech, seems to have run afoul of the First Amendment. Their speech code got taken down by a Federal Court after a couple of students brought suit. The case has been "tweaked" by the media, with one instance being a headline that reads, "Insults now allowed at Georgia Tech." Yes, that's true, but not exactly what the case was about. The suit was over the right of students to express their viewpoints, even if the campus orthodoxy disagreed. Please read this great letter from the two students involved in the suit, explaining their side of the story to a media that has been unwilling to give them a fair shake.

Edit: I just wanted to add on a bit to clarify for at least one reader that was confused and IMed. I knew more about this story than you would get from reading the letter, or some of the news stories. How about this, for an example of the offenses these people were suing over. At one point they protested the Vagina Monologues on campus. Silly, yes, but they have the right protest. Tech shut down the protest, however. At another point, many of the same conservative students participated in an "Affirmative Action Bakesale" in which people were charged different prices depending on their race/ethnicity, as many people seem to feel is alright in other realms, such as college admissions. They don't like it when it's thrown in their face how unjust such a system is, however, and an angry protest bordering on violence broke out. This time the bake sale got shut down instead of the protestors. Doesn't that sound like the school is picking sides based on their own subjective viewpoint? It also could be said that they bowed down to the more violent group, and thus the rewards of terrorism are once again demonstrated by authority. Which is not to say that any of these people are terrorists in any way, merely that violence, or the threat of it, has been shown to work better than peaceful protest at getting your way.

One day later and I'm hearing that new poker champion Jamie Gold is playing his part well and winning back people he had offended. At first I wondered if it was an act, then I decided it doesn't matter and I don't care. If he an ass, that's fine, he just shouldn't act like one when representing poker, which is exactly what he is doing, whether he likes it or not. Normally it wouldn't matter if he acted like a total ass, but in this period where online poker is under assault from the government, the most visible man in the game has to act respectable. If he's an ass, Senators are that much more likely to think badly of poker players and poker in general.

Anyway, for $12 million, I think it's a small price to pay. And after his final table performance, lucky cards or not, he's going to get some respect with unconventional but demonstratably effective play.

The main event of the World Series of Poker ended early this morning with a whimper. New champion Jamie Gold ran over the final table, with barely an obstacle in his way. Even more amazing is that he dominated the entire tournament from like 500 people all the way down to the end. He seemed to have the right cards at the right time every time, in a manner that must have been sickening to those losing to him. If they had JJ, he had QQ, if they had TT, he played KJ and hit a K. If they had AQ and the flop came KQ6, he had Q6. Just sick.

That said, he did play a fantastic big stack, using his chips to cow opponents into folding without having to show many hands. He also tried to use his table talk to put opponents off balance. Whether it helped him, or he just got lucky, he still won. Personally I found his table etiquette to be atrocious, but what do I know? I can't even afford the buyin to that tournament, much less expect to win.

Here's what I'm really wondering. What were the ratings like? They broadcast the final table live for $24.95 on PayPerView and online. There were no hole card shots like in the usual taped and edited events you see on ESPN and the Travel Channel, obviously to avoid the chance of cheating. Phil Gordon and some random dude I never heard of hosted, along with a parade of big-name players who helped to provide analysis and play paper-rock-scissors for $100 a hand.

The show started yesterday at about 5pm EDT, and ended early this morning at 6:45. Someone somehow must have hacked a feed, because a link to a free feed started showing up on poker forums around 7 or 8, though I'd need to verify that before you can quote me. Many people picked well-known pro and four-time bracelet winner Allen Cunningham to win going in to the final table, but he went out in 4th at about 6 am. I know that's when I lost interest and decided to go to sleep. How many other people turned it off then? Were the ratings good enough to try again? Honestly, I just don't see people wanting to pay for a live feed for anything but the Main Event, but if the ratings were good, I'm sure they'll try other events. I suppose I'd be interested in seeing a final table from another event if it included a bunch of big names. I don't think I would have wanted to watch this one if not for Cunningham being in.

That's the edge poker has to maintain. Sure, it's cool to know that normal guys can make the final table and even win (FYI, one woman has made a final table of the Main Event, none have won), like Chris Moneymaker a few years ago, but at the same time, who wants to watch a final table full of people they never heard of? An interesting aspect of the poker boom is that there are a lot of really smart people out there that have gotten interested in the game. Some of these people may be absolute naturals who never would have discovered their talent if not for the hole card cam and the Moneymaker win starting the poker boom, but they'll win, and they'll win a lot, and we may not know the names of many of the winners. Will people tire of that and the boom fade away through lack of interest? Or will people get tired of losing, and the boom will fade through lack of new money coming in?

After I found out about the foiled terrorist plot the other day, I decided to check The Daily Kos, a center of online left-wing discussion, to see if they were finally ready to admit that Islamic terrorism just might be a bigger problem than George Bush. They were not, however. I did see a lot of excitement over the fact that the British, and not US, discovered the bad guys. I also saw a bunch of people say, "See? Bush ought to be doing it like the British, they aren't incompetent," and similar items.

Do they not realize the added "un-civil" liberties they have in Britain? Big brother is alive and well over there. London is COVERED with cameras, and not traffic light cameras, but cameras that are meant to watch people all the time. I'm not going to make a list here, but if Bush started doing things the way the British do them, even I would be ready to string the guy up. But in the world to the left, everything is good except Bush. It's impossible to think rationally when one is taken by such an irrational emotion as hatred, and that's the problem with much of the left in the U.S. today. They are so focused on hating Bush that they can't see past it.

Most of you will ignore this, to your everlasting shame. Battlestar Galactica is an AWESOME show. Yes, it's sci-fi based on a cheesy 30 year old show, but it's actually written incredibly well with great storylines, good character development, and timely philosophical questions. At one point last year they dealt with torture, but with an added twist, what if the person to be tortured was an artificial being, but still seemed to have an individual conciousness?

Anyway, it's not just me. Almost every major TV critic gives it five stars or two thumbs up or whatever, and sci-fi geeks love it, too. So anyway, it's on the Sci-fi channel, which is owned by NBC, so NBC is going to pimp it big time by showing a recap episode to set up the new season. Make sure to watch. I'd say trust me, but I never trust anyone that says that.

I was reading a letter to the editor today in which a man used the phrase "everyon knows that..." Whenever someone says that, you can bet very few people know. In this case it was "Everyone knows that the stretch of 285 from Stone Mountain to Cumberland is one of the most overlooked and congested areas in the eastern U.S. First off, no one I know uses that stretch, second how can it be both overlook and known by everyone?

Another gem of a letter was a woman basically implying that our system of government was going to fall because Cynthia McKinney was voted out of office. And even though the other guy is black with tons of support from black voters, she says this was a racial issue. They should have two letters pages, one for morons and one people who make sense.

The main event of the World Series of Poker is down to the final 21 or so players from an initial 8773. 1st place pays $12 million, not to mention all the marketing opportunites that will open up for the champ. The action has been fast and furious, reflecting the players still in. There are very few pros left, and though thedse online amatuers may be just as good at reading hands and such, they seem to be less catious. Personally I'd rather bide my time and wait for premium hands at this point, but they all seem to be going all in with pocket 6's and such. The only "names" left are Allen Cunningham, who has several bracelets and plenty of cred in the professional ranks, Jeffrey Lisandro, whom I know little about, and Prahlad Friedman, also known as Spirit Rock, and is often seen ripping up the biggest online cash games. If those three make it to the final table, watch for them to tear the other guys to pieces.

The guy with the most chips by far right now, Jamie Gold, is a former Hollywood superagent. Another guy with a lot of chips, David Einhorn, has pledged to give every cent he wins to the Parkin's Disease foundation that Michael J. Fox is involved with. That's a possible $12 million, and he's guaranteed at least half a million right now. Gotta give a guy props for that. I wonder how the tax implications work out. If you win $12 mil and donate it all immediately, do you still have to pay taxes on it? Wouldn't you just deduct the total amount from your taxable income, making it a wash? I'm very curious.

Word on the street is that Muslim terrorists of some sort have something big planned for August 22. What that is, who knows, but I have hopes. I hope and pray that it's something that doesn't kill a lot of people, but does finally make the western world realize that these people want to kill us and no amount of negotiation will change that.

I also hope the plan is not to drop a nuke on Israel. Of course if they nuke Jerusalem, that would put the lie to all the talk of restoring Palestine to the Palestinians.

I tell you what, I'm as scared for Israel, for Jews, and for the United States as I ever have been. The goals of various terrorists groups are being met again and again, and our media effectively, if not consciously, seems to be playing on the other side. If what is happening in Israel suceeds, we will see a lot more terrorism in the United States, and I don't want that.

You know, it's funny.... From the beginning Israelis pointed out that groups like Hamas and Hezbollah said their goal was to destroy Israel, and people didn't believe them. They always found other excuses for the rhetoric, like "They just want a Palestinian state, etc." Well after all this time the attacks on Israel are still happening, and they seem to be working, seeing as now major newspaper columnists in Europe are saying things like, "Israel was a mistake, and it's time to fix it." This is the EXACT result the Muslim terrorists have been playing the P.R. game for, and the world media and the left are responsible for falling in to the exact role the Muslims set for them.

I don't know much about the Druze, but apparantely their leader shares some interests with Israel. Walid Jumblatt is holed up in a bunker somewhere hiding because he and the Hezbollah/Syrians don't get along so well. Maybe the Druze will start fighting Hezbollah, too. Sure could make the outcome of this whole thing a lot better for everyone except militant Muslim extremists around the world.

The Israel-Hezbollah war has so many far-reaching consequences and possibilities that it's mind-boggling. Right now I'm wondering about the effect on Iraq. I understand there are a lot of pro-Hezbollah demonstrations and such. As the Arab world unites more closely, forgetting differences for the sake of killing Jews, the United States simply cannot afford to let down Israel. It is essential to the future of the USA that Israel stays strong. Why? If the US washes its hands of Israel, not only would we be selling out a free and democratic society to the same sort of people that hit us on 9/11, not only would it would be totally immoral, but we would also be saying to the Muslim peoples that western style democracies, no matter how tough they seem, can be brought down by a united Muslim front and a whole heck of a lot of terrorism. You want to know what it has been like to live in Israel the last few years, when you never know if your bus or pizza place will get blown up, you'll find out if Israel falls, because that shit is gonna go off big time here.

Back to Iraq. If the people of Iraq finally decide to unite under the banner of killing Jews, maybe then it will be time for the US to pull out. At that point we may have to gear up for the real war, the war between Islam and the West. I just can't help but think that if Israel is defeated, or has to back down in a manner the Muslim world would consider humiliating, then that war will come. I don't want it to, and that's why we have to support Israel in every way possible now.

Y'all may have noticed that I like poker. Well our government is trying to kill it. HR411 sailed through the House and is now bogged down in the Senate. The bill basically extends the wire act to internet gambling, and also puts the burden on financial institutions to not allow money to be sent to online gambling companies and such. That's what they call an unfunded mandate. Actually I never heard that term before a few minutes ago, but I imagine it means the government is trying to pass a bill that will cause lots of companies to have to pay a lot of extra money. And it will cost a lot, because it's a HUGE job to track all that money. The US Chamber of Commerce has come out strongly against the bill, and the Senate doesn't seem like they want to pass it, so we may get off okay.

The worst part of the bill is that it has exceptions for online lotteries and horse racing. Isn't that hypocritical?

There seem to be some doubts cropping up about the Qana issue. I wouldn't be surprised if the body count turns out to be inflated, but I don't think it's all some conspiracy.