The Cubs now have a magic number for a playoff spot of 18, with 27 games left. They have a magic number of 22 for the division. The Cubs again face Philadelphia tomorrow at Wrigley Field.

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All of the politics are below the cut. spidurman is right -- not everyone is interested. For those who are....( Here's the politics! )

Playing today in the donkfest, where I've taken the few opportunities thrown towards me and have an average stack as we made the money. I'm sitting at T36k, 269/573. I was watching spidurman, but he bailed when he get ko'd in the rebuy period.

Good luck to my friends still left at the WSOP ME.

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Cubs won today, 7-1, with Sean Marshall shutting down the Cardinals.

I finished 158th, and overall am quite pleased with my performance, especially today. I gave myself the chance to win. I was very aggressive with my 11.5k, and built it to 40k by raising at every opportunity. Well, I should say jamming. At the same time we were losing players left and right at the same pace as yesterday--about one every thirty seconds!

With about five minutes left in the round (800/1600/200; next level: 1k/2k/300), I pick up AhKh UTG. Everyone at my table is deepstacked except myself and a player who has seen his stack dwindle to 10k. I shove; shorty undercalls with 99; big blind eventually calls (after a 4-minute tank) with JJ. I lose the race. I wanted a chance to build a big stack; had I won that hand I would have been above average for the first time since early on day 1 with about 94k. It wasn't to be, and I cash for $3509 ($2009 net win).

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Interesting issue: I have a reputation of playing a somewhat rocky style. I dress conservatively; I have gray hair; I look like a tight player. I wonder how much of a help that is when I steal with air...which I definitely did a couple of times today.

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JR Simplot passed away in late May. Remember his entrepreneurial skills the next time you eat a French Fry.

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The Cubs are now 20 games over .500...and that's not a typographical error.

As it should be....

I plan on uploading my pictures from my Chicago trip later today.

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That's a picture (I believe from the AP) of the continuing eruption at Chaiten. The good news is that seismic activity at the volcano has dramatically lessened. Unless there's significant renewed seismic activity, Chaiten will likely build lava domes (with, perhaps, an occasional lava dome collapse), with no likely big blowup (aka Toba/Pinatubo). That's good news, except for the residents of the town of Chaiten. The volcano has turned their homes to mud.

This eruption also tells us something about "extinct" volcanoes--it ain't necessarily so. Chaiten hadn't erupted in 9400 years. There are numerous volcanoes in the Western United States that haven't erupted in 9400 years and are thought to be extinct.

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Barack Obama quit Trinity Church yesterday. Here's the problem that I have with this. It's not that Obama shouldn't quit a church that preaches racism. The problem is he should have quit the church many, many years ago. It's impossible for me to believe that Obama didn't know years ago that Wright, et. al. preached racism. He would have to be wearing earplugs during the services.

Suppose you were attending a church or synagogue, and the pastor or rabbi preached hate during one sermon. You might ask the people sitting next to you and find out if this is normal behavior for the pastor. You attend again, and the same thing happens. It's time to find another place to worship.

Obama certainly knew years ago of this issue. He chose to continue to attend a church where racism was part of the ideology. That speaks volumes for his decision making, and it's a problem that resigning from the church in 2008 won't cure.

I managed to win that poker hand. No one called.

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A blast from the past (behind the cut):( Read more... )

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British Appeals Court: Luck outweighs skill in poker.

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An interesting column on global warming: "If More CO2 is Bad ... Then What?"

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The OC Register call-in went well. I'll likely be mentioned in the Register sometime in the next few days. I'll post a link when that happens.

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Why are you getting this post from me when I'm normally asleep at this hour? I received a 40 page fax from a client. I then received a second 40 page fax, but my fax machine ran out of paper and jammed. It wouldn't shut off, so I had to undo the power strip which it wasn't happy about. It's taken me 45 minutes so far to get it up, and I'm still not done. There are times I hate technology, and this is one of those times.

Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

And it's snowing in Cincinnati....