What if tomorrow morning you woke up to headlines that yet another Chinese drone bombing on US soil killed several dozen ranchers in a rural community while they were sleeping? That a drone aircraft had come across the Canadian border in the middle of the night and carried out the latest of many attacks? What if it was claimed that many of the victims harbored anti-Chinese sentiments, but most of the dead were innocent women and children? And what if the Chinese administration, in an effort to improve its public image in the US, had approved an aid package to send funds to help with American roads and schools and promote Chinese values here?
Most Americans would not stand for it. Yet the above hypothetical events are similar to what our government is doing in Pakistan. Last week, Congress did approve an aid package for Pakistan for the stated purposes of improving our image and promoting democracy. I again made the point on the floor of the House that still no one seems to hear: What if this happened on US soil? What if innocent Americans were being killed in repeated drone attacks carried out by some foreign force who was trying to fix our problems for us? Would sending money help their image? If another nation committed this type of violence and destruction on our homeland, would we be at all interested in adopting their values?
Sadly, one thing that has entirely escaped modern American foreign policy is empathy. Without much humility or regard for human life, our foreign policy has been reduced to alternately bribing and bombing other nations, all with the stated goal of “promoting democracy”. But if a country democratically elects a leader who is not sufficiently pro-American, our government will refuse to recognize them, will impose sanctions on them, and will possibly even support covert efforts to remove them. Democracy is obviously not what we are interested in. It is more likely that our government is interested in imposing its will on other governments. This policy of endless intervention in the affairs of others is very damaging to American liberty and security.
If we were really interested in democracy, peace, prosperity and safety, we would pursue more free trade with other countries. Free and abundant trade is much more conducive to peace because it is generally bad business to kill your customers. When one’s livelihood is on the line, and the business agreements are mutually beneficial, it is in everyone’s best interests to maintain cooperative and friendly relations and not kill each other. But instead, to force other countries to bend to our will, we impose trade barriers and sanctions. If our government really wanted to promote freedom, Americans would be free to travel and trade with whoever they wished. And, if we would simply look at our own policies around the world through the eyes of others, we would understand how these actions make us more targeted and therefore less safe from terrorism. The only answer is get back to free trade with all and entangling alliances with none. It is our bombs and sanctions and condescending aid packages that isolate us.
Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009 H.R. bill 3642
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. Sometimes I wonder how we can, with a straight face, bring a bill up like this with the conditions of this country, especially financially. I oppose this bill for two reasons. One, we don't have the money. That would be a pretty good reason not to support it. And the other reason is I do not believe it's in our national security interests. I know this is being promoted as benefiting our national security, but I do not believe it helps us one bit. This bill was essentially voted on in June, and the vote was 234-185, which means that it is assumed at least 56 or more individuals in the Congress have switched their votes.
Now they say they have tinkered with the bill and changed it a little bit, but it's an authorization that could be $15 billion. So it hasn't had that much of a change. But today it is expected that these individuals will change and vote for this bill not really asking the questions.
Now, the bill is defined as fortifying democratic institutions. That is a good goal. But it never, never works. We are in 130 countries, we have 700 bases around the world, and we pursue this, and we are bankrupting our country by trying to maintain this empire. I have often made the point that the way we treat our fellow countries around the world is we tell them what to do, and if they do it we give them money. If they don't do it, we bomb them. Under this condition, we are doing both. We are currently dropping bombs in Pakistan. The CIA is dropping bombs, and innocent people get killed.
If you want to promote our good values and our democratic process, you can't antagonize the people by literally killing people over there, because if bombs were falling on this country, we wouldn't be all that happy with that. So this does not improve our conditions whatsoever.
I would suggest another proposal for our foreign policy, not using bombs and bribes, but what about neither one? What about just talking to people? What about reducing tariffs? What about trading with them? Instead, it is this form of foreign policy that will not serve our interests.
I was looking to get a new laptop but I dont know how big I should go. It will only be used for surfing the web, online banking, and poker. I just want it to be fast and have plenty of storage for what I need it for. Was looking for some suggestions if you guys had some spare time. Price range $500 - $1000. Ideas on virus protection would be nice also. Thanks
[P]: Huge Tilt, but running hot?by LemOn[5thF], October 05
http://www.liquidpoker.net/userpoll/draw.php?poll_id=924
Poll: You play bad and are tilted, but the cards just keep coming.Would you:
(Vote): Keep on trucking. You play bad but hey, nobody posts +EV graphs anyway.
(Vote): You look at your BR, set a point in time and play until you hit a stop loss.
(Vote): You keep playing until the luck starts running out
(Vote): You quit/take a long break and come back when you pulled yourself together.
(Vote): You quit unless some tables are so juicy they are still +ev with neutral deck
So today I came from soccer we play with other people in Finance Department, and I started some tables. I had a dinner during that time and then was becoming really tired and really tilted because of other reasons.
You know the feeling: Weak tight is your motto and at some random points in time you pull out huge spews here and there.
But the cards just keep coming.
Where I should run at -6bb/100 in my present condition, I run +10bb/100.
This situation creates the biggest leaks as you subconsciously see the TT shoved 4way winning you 300bb, or simply that people fold to your raises or that weak/tight is good as the cards will come anyway and there is no reason to lose/risk anything more. http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/39eac.KEKE.png
I know there are quite a few successful MTT players at LP, and I am searching for some help with my MTT play. Are there any videos showing how to play the more deeper stages of a tournament from any fellow LPers? I also have an account at 'decuescracked', can you recommend any series of videos there? I really find the search facilities on that site horrible to find anything regarding MTTs.
Think I got a CR login too, so any videos there too that you could recommend would be appreciated.
So as you know I randomly decided to go on a trip to Amsterdam with 2 friends. The weekend was bound to be great and we had a lot of fun. After we had arrived to the hotel (link), we went out to do some sightseeing and the first thing we noticed was obviously a nearby coffeeshop, where we smoked our first joints later in the evening.+ Show Spoiler +
We visited the famous Madam Tussauds museum. I had been to one in London before but this one was just great and well-worth the 21 euro entry fee.+ Show Spoiler +
We ate something in a thai restaurant we found and headed to the hotel. We had to get some rest after walking all day long. And what's the best thing to do to relax in Amsterdam besides fucking a whore from Red Light District ? Smoking weed.
We didn't want to lose our way to the hotel after getting high so we chose the nearby coffeshop I mentioned before. We walk in and ask for weed obv. The guy gives us a whole menu with different kinds of weed and hash. As first timers (well, we smoked weed before but being in a legally run coffeshop was something new to us and we naturally felt a little bit anxious) we decided to go with pre-rolled joints - there were two kinds of them, with skunk and with some strong Dutch shit, which we chose, cause we ain't no pussies right ?! And no, we didn't buy just one joint. My super intelligent friend suggested to buy 3 - one for each of us. + Show Spoiler +
God damn, we destroyed ourselves. At least I did. I smoked only half of it (the most of us all) and wow... Luckily I didn't freak out and had only fun ideas such as feeling the city - and I gotta tell you, Amsterdam feels great We put what we got left into a bag and started looking for a grocery store. Every street looked the same and that's why we had to go back like every 2 minutes to the street where our hotel was placed. I remember when we were standing on a bridge and Filemon said that we should look to the left and then to the right. IT ALL LOOKED EXACTLY THE SAME ! 2 people riding a bike, the same lighting, buildings etc. Just wow.
Some 17 year-olders saw that we were kinda lost and they approached us. We asked them how to get to the grocery store. As we were walking in the direction they had shown us, 2 of them ran to us and asked if we could buy them something too. They thought we were looking for a coffeeshop. So since we still had our joints we gave them all of it. It's pretty funny how underage kids in Netherlands seek to buy some weed while the same thing occurs in, for instance, Poland but it regards alcohol.
So we finally found the grocery store, bought some snacks and came back to our room.+ Show Spoiler +
The next day we woke up at like 11 a.m. and went out in search of a place to eat breakfast. Somehow we found a small, homelike bar, which turned out to be the greatest spot to eat breakfest ever ! + Show Spoiler +
American pancakes with maple syrup, bacon, tea and freshly-squeezed orange juice
Then, obviously, we had to do some sightseeing. We were planning on renting bikes but even without them everything was really close to our hotel. Max. 15-20min walk to, for example, Red Light District or Leidesplein.+ Show Spoiler +
After dinner we went on a boat trip, which was really nice. Amsterdam looks amazing in the night and IMO it's a perfect place to spend a romantic weekend with your girlfriend + Show Spoiler +
... and then we checked out the Red Light District. Apparently it's forbidden to take pictures of the ladies so I don't have any You just have to imagine the hottest chicks you've ever seen in your life and that's basically what we saw there. And a 'meeting' with one of them costs only 50 EUR. So sick
Later in the evening we decided to chill on Leidesplein, which is one of the best places to have fun in Amsterdam, there are lots of bars, clubs, and most importantly people. The Bulldog+ Show Spoiler +
- a well-known coffeeshop company or whatever had its franchise there so we went in and instead of buying 3 strongest joints like we did the night before, we picked only one with skunk. It was enough to make us feel really relaxed and was a perfect ending to that day.
Sunday was uneventful, we ate pancakes for breakfast (but this time in The Pancake Bakery), bought some souvenirs and the rest of the time we were just walking around, enjoying the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
That's it I guess. I don't need to say that it was one of the best weekends I had in my life. I'd definitely recommend such a trip to everyone. Go there whenever you get a chance to. I'll leave you with some more photos + Show Spoiler +
I thought EastSide's last blog was interesting...by TheTank, October 05
and here was my response since i didn't get to it last night.
On October 05 2009 12:45 TheTank wrote:
what i thought was funny was a couple years ago in LA thousands and thousands of Mexican immigrants held a rally/protest for wanting easier access to come over, everyone whose already here should be granted citizenship etc etc, and the funny part was 1) many of them were arrested and sent back to Mexico because their not citizens, so they don't have the right to protest in the 1st place, and 2) they were all waving the Mexican national flag!?!?!? i just don't get it. I WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!!!!http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/1ace0.Mexico_flag.jpeg YEAHHHHHHHH!
if anyone feels this debate should be continued, i guess post on this blog and it will be a continuation of totheeastsides. If not, well i guess ignore it. I have to go to practice however, so i will not be in the debate. hfgl
So basically what I'm looking for is a recurring weekend stake for FTP tournaments. I know this isn't the best place to look but I have the best reputation on this site(or atleast the most posts). These are the tournaments I am interested in being staked in.
Since when do shots go well?? been taking some pretty aggressive shots in good 25 50 games lately and been running well so far
Ive also been playing more tables than normal but cut out all distractions like browsing lp/2p2 and music and try not talking so much on aim/msn and its been working out well.
Also start training muay thai today pretty pumped about that
This is the gym I'll be training at... the ko at the end of the vid is pretty sweet aha
Also got my 21st birthday coming up which isnt all that exciting since I live in Canada but still, probably gonna go to Boston for Halloween weekend to visit nutsinho/kingsofcards as they just moved into a sick penthouse condo downtown there
Probably go to a Bruins game at some point... Nolan we gotta grab a beer or 12 lol
a TON more fish than weekday afternoons just shipping me money in ridiculous spots. but I lost 4 or 5 flips AIPF in a row, and set of 9s < KK. lots of aggro players 3betting and 4betting all the time too.
Moving to Mexico; Letter to Obamaby ToTehEastSide, October 04
Dear Mr. President , U. S. Senate and Congress:
I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my husband's health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.
We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.
So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:
1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All Mexico government forms, printed in Spanish, need to also be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.
13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say a critical thing about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.
I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who come to the U.S. from Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.
Thank you so much for your kind help.
Sincerely,
U.S. Citizen & Taxpayer
THE END OF THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT!by DustySwedeDude, October 04
HE MUST HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO LIFE!
Anyway, down like 10k so far for the month, running sets into stuff that beats me and backdoors low flushes vs higher flushes. I've got faith though, I feel pretty good about things right now. Also; due to starting the month by getting like 17k hands in during the first 4 days I think I might've won Unibets weekly rake race for a trip to Unibet Open Warzaw (didn't think I would go before I noticed this). Not 100% sure, but still. Nice little bonus. Says some stuff about my playing habits though, heh.
Also did some fishing today. Was fun, I like doing stuff in the rain with dad and my cousin.
I see a lot of people talk about how compared to nl25, nl50 is more variance, lower variance, more aggressive, more nitty...
when i first moved to nl50 a 2 months ago i was getting beat when deep thinking regs was making a move against me and finally i TAKE MY STAND and they show up with a hand :/
Now it's obvious I was just spewing. I get a little dry spot or they get a little hot spell and then lose money. Or I make bad folds cos I'm looking at all the big money. It's not outright tilt but a slight off balance.
You might say ah no, that's not me but I guarantee it that you're probably just doing too much Fancy Play Syndrome.
> NL50 is no different to NL25, just with 1 or maybe 2 more regs who mostly just play super tight. Even seens guys at 9/5 before! <
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You just have to imagine the hottest chicks you've ever seen in your life and that's basically what we saw there. And a 'meeting' with one of them costs only 50 EUR. So sick
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