First, a little poker. I played in the DSE yesterday at the Venetian. I shook some rust off, and played fine. I busted about four hours in. I had about 10k (started with 12k), having lost 2k through normal stuff. I'm in the cutoff. A relatively loose ep raises to 1k (blinds 200/400/50), a tight older guy calls (he's luckboxed to ~50k), I look down at KK and shove. ep folds, older guy calls and tables AJo. Humorously, I bust when I make a set on the KQ8 flop...the turn was a ten. No dollars for reading this: It's just a normal way you bust in tourneys.

On to politics:

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The most sickening thing I've read in some time is the harassment faced by Patrick Frey. Read the thing and be prepared to be sick to your stomach.

Mostly politics, so it's all in the cut below.

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Our tax dollars at work: HHS to spend $20 million on public relations to promote ObamaCare.

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Happy Anniversary! It was 97 years ago today that Mount Lassen went BOOM and erupted:



This is also the anniversary of the largest earthquake ever recorded, the 1960 Chilean 9.5 earthquake. Hopefully, today will remain a pleasant day from a geologic perspective.

At least 43 Catholic organizations (universities, dioceses, etc.) filed lawsuits against the Obama Administration over the contraception mandate. This can't be good for the Administration and obtaining Catholic votes.

Little did I know when I posted the Cory Booker/Chris Christie video that l'affair de Booker would erupt. Yesterday, on Meet the Press Mayor Booker said that the attacks on Mitt Romney over Bain were bad. This led to a four-minute YouTube video from Mr. Booker. The Obama campaign then excerpted 35 seconds. I'll let Politico take it from there:

What gets lost in the edit is the nuance of Booker's argument. Watching the 35-second video, you would believe that Booker was flip-flopping from his comments on Meet The Press and going on an all-out assault on Romney. In the four-minute video, Booker stands by his comments -- including "nauseating" -- and explains that while he does think Romney's record is fair game, he remains "furstrated" by the Obama campaign's negative attacks.

In other words, the 35-second video is a reverse from the original argument. The four-minute video is an extenstion of the original argument.

Asked for his response to the ad, RNC spokesman Tim Miller, who has been attacking the ad on Twitter, emailed:

It's clear this video was orchestrated by the Obama campaign, and as long as he is President any defense of the free market/private sector by members of his party must be silenced and apologized for.

Humorously, former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) echoed Mayor Booker's comments. “The substance of his comments on ‘Meet the Press,’ I agree with the core of it. I would not have backed them out… private equity’s not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances.”

If you haven't seen this, here's a parody video done by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D).



The self-deprecation is one of the reasons why I suspect that Governor Christie remains quite popular.

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I wrote a post on my tax blog about California socialism. California finds itself in a $17 billion hole. Yet Governor Brown wants to find another $55 billion to build a bullet train (minimum--it wouldn't be a surprise to find that the total needed is $87 billion).

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Great Moments in Presidential History:

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From the land of Scottro (Youngstown, OH) comes an op-ed about Vice President Biden's visit to the Mahoning Valley. Many of the attendees were there to see a Vice President, not to support him.

Bob McClain and his wife, Myra, came to M7 Technologies to support their friends' family business. Neither supports the Obama-Biden ticket.

"We are friends of the owners -- that is why we came, to show support for the Garvey family," said Bob. At 71, he's retired but volunteers full-time as a counselor for Mahoning Valley small-business owners.

"Our vote is going for who is best to lead on the economy. That is Romney, for us," said Myra as her husband nodded.

Some political stuff under the cut.

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Some interesting news:

The EPA has a Cap & Trade Simulator on their website. Don't try to use it unless you have a network. A publication called Inside EPA says that it will lower supply; basic economics tells us the result if supply is cut by 37% while demand stays constant: Prices increase markedly.

It's hard to get unanimity in politics, but I do want to congratulate President Obama on that result today. Earlier, his budget was defeated in the House 414-0. Today it was defeated in the Senate 99-0. Perhaps the Democrats in the Senate will actually propose a budget they can vote for...but that would be doing what they're actually paid to do....

An interesting map from the San Diego Union-Tribune showing different routes California small business owners can take:



For the record, I took I-15.

There were two bombshells delivered, only one of which made the news. California finds itself with yet another $16 billion deficit. Spending money you don't have never works. Oh yes, it's "unexpected"; however, I wrote about such a deficit on my tax blog earlier this year. The solution I proposed is the only one that will work long-term:

Here is a helpful hint for California: You must lower your expenses. This means cutting the size of state government, cutting pension costs, and cutting salaries. Additionally, California must make itself more attractive to people like me who have fled the Bronze Golden State. Regulations must be cut.

I had a thought, but dismissed it as too obvious. For every new regulation put on the books in California, two should be removed. If that were done California would likely solve its problems within a few years. Of course, my idea here is just wishful thinking. The Democratic Legislature in California thinks that the Golden State is truly golden, and these issues are because the tax rates are just too low. Well, California only has the second worst business climate of the 50 states, so there is room for improvement!

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The other bombshell was in testimony before Congress:

“The Green River Formation–an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming–contains the world’s largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.

“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves.”

This isn't the message the Obama Administration wants to send, so don't expect the president to mention this.

It's time for some interesting stories.

First, if you haven't you should follow https://twitter.com/#!/RealTimeWWII (@RealTimeWWII). This truly was the "war to end all wars," though unfortunately war continues in various places on our globe.

One of the things I hadn't known is that French reconnaissance planes spotted the German troops massing at the Ardennes Forest before the German invasion of France but that the French command wasn't worried. Oops.

In a related story, Arthur Herman talks about what FDR did to turn the 18th largest army in the world (as of May 1940) into the "Arsenal of Democracy". It's a very interesting story. [paid link to WSJ]

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The trade deficit jumped by 14.1% in March. It's unexpected! (Well, to quote completely accurately, "bigger-than-expected.")

Gallup report for April shows that youth unemployment is at 13.6%, exactly the same as it was a year ago. I'll let everyone debate if this is a symptom or a cause or whatever. And yes, as the link title states, one in three youth are 'underemployed' according to Gallup.

This is the point that I expect the Romney campaign to push: Are you better off than you were four years ago. A survey of registered voters shows 39% worse off, 36% about the same, and 25% better off. Republicans and Independents do not think the President's plan to fix the economy is working. It's a Resurgent Republic survey.

In today's government waste news of the day, the TSA has wastged hundreds of millions of dollars by buying equipment it doesn't need and storing it in a North Texas warehouse. At least some warehouse space is getting used....

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The Washington Post ran an article yesterday about Mitt Romney's high school pranks. Mr. Romney apologized yesterday. This story shows he's more than made up for it. Frankly, if this is what the MSM is going to throw at Romney (an event from 47 years a go of questionable negativity), Romney will win in a landslide.

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I think the Democratic party in Massachusetts should find a man to run for US Senate. The University of Pennsylvania also listed Elizabeth Warren as a minority. She should just admit the error and move on...but it's always the cover-up that gets you.

Then again, the Democratic party is apparently training Congresscritters on how to use race in arguing against Republicans.

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That's how I've felt in my recent debate with prock. I give up, as I don't care to do what the above caption reads. I'll continue writing the way I like--it's my blog, after all--and anyone who wishes can tell me why I'm wrong (in the comments). If I feel that the only satisfaction I would get from commenting is a headache (and that's not very satisfying), don't expect a response from me.

Something different: Poker. The WSOP is coming up and I'm debating which tournaments to play. I now live in Vegas, so playing is a lot easier but I don't have an unlimited bankroll. My thoughts:

1. I'm not as good as the experts in nlhe. I'm not bad (by any means), but there are many players who are far better than I am. In a large-field tournament, some of this evens out, but it's a factor.
2. It's less of a factor in the Main Event as the play on average is the worst of any nlhe event.
3. I'm a morning person, not a night owl, so I'd prefer not to play in 5pm starting time tournaments.
4. I may have to go to Jacksonville sometime in the middle of the WSOP, though mid-August is more likely.
5. I can play stud (and Stud 8).

With that stated, I'm almost certain to play in Event #47 ($1500 PLO8), as it's the game I played regularly when I could play online. I'm probably going to try a satellite or two for the main event. The other events I'm considering are:

Event #2 $1500 NLHE (1st NLHE event)
Event #8 $1500 O8 (limit)
Event #27 $1500 HORSE (limit)
Event #29 $1000 Seniors NLHE (yes, I'm eligible)

Events I'd play if I had an unlimited bankroll and knew I could sleep in the following morning:

Event #4 $1500 Stud 8 (5pm)
Event #7 $1500 Seven Card Stud (5pm)


Thoughts?