The family is like the forest: if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position. — Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
Author Archive: Paul Epps
A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life. — Christopher Germer
Chess Game of the Day: Two Knights Defense
Man vs. computer. I feel like I was winning most of the game, screwed up, then missed the opportunity for a forced draw. Some annotations below . . . 3. …Nf6 Two Knights Defense 8. …Qd5?! I’m not sure what is the point of this move. It threatens the g-pawn, followed by 9. …Qxg5 but is easily defended by a move that White would make anyway. 12. Ne4?! Maybe capturing the bishop is better: 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. d3 Be7 14. Nc3 Qd4+ 15. Be3. 18. …Qf4 Threatening 19. …Qxh2#. 21. …Qh5 Again threatening 19. …Qxh2#. 30. Qd3? I wish I’d taken the c-pawn. Pretty much lost the advantage with this move. White can survive 30. …Re1+ 31. Kg2 Re2+ 32. Kf1 Rxh2 33. Rh4 Rxh4 34. gxh4 Kh7 35. Qe4. 31. a4?? This was even worse. Probably 33. Kg2 was the way to go. 33. …Qf2?? Allowing a forced… Read more →
Garcetti and the Mandate Date
At the LA Fitness I go to in Santa Monica, there’s a big sign standing next to the front desk announcing that Mayor Garcetti has commanded that as of tomorrow, Nov. 4, you’re going to have to show proof of vaccination to enter indoor facilities like gyms, restaurants, etc. (Eric Garcetti is the mayor of Los Angeles.) I ask the girl at the desk, “Can the mayor of Los Angeles tell people what to do in Santa Monica?” “I guess he can.” Ironically, Garcetti just tested positive for COVID-19 himself, which makes me think that he shouldn’t be serving up mandates and telling people what to do like he knows how to avoid COVID because obviously he doesn’t. Read more →
Joe Biden Believes in Hard Work and Ingenuity?
Joe Biden believes that there’s no greater economic engine in the world than the hard work and ingenuity of the American people. But for too long, the economy has worked great for those at the top, while working families continually get squeezed. — President Biden Announces the Build Back Better Framework Joe Biden believes in hard work and ingenuity! Unless that hard work and ingenuity results in the acquisition of wealth, at which point aspiration and investment are to be punished. Read more →
The Four Thoughts
Maintain an awareness of the preciousness of human life. Be aware of the reality that life ends; death comes for everyone. Recall that whatever you do, whether virtuous or not, has a result. Contemplate that as long as you are too focused on self-importance and too caught up in thinking about how you are good or bad, you will experience suffering. Obsessing about getting what you want and avoiding what you don’t want does not result in happiness. Read more →
Chess Game of the Day: Time Problems Force a Draw
One of my online chess games. I feel like I would have lost but it ended with a draw by repetition when Black ran short of time. Some annotations below . . . 2. Nc3 Vienna Game 3. …Nc6 Four Knights Game 12. Rad1 Probably 12. Bxc6 is better. 15. …Bg4 I feel like 15. …exf4 is an improvement. 20. …Bh4 I don’t see what this move accomplishes. 23. …Qf5 I like 23. …Qa5 here. 27. Rxc7 At this point, I feel like Black should be able to continue with something like 27. Rd8 and win by queening the a-pawn. (Capturing the a-pawn with 28. Rxa7 doesn’t help after 27. …Rd2. But Black only has 14 seconds left in a 2-minute game and after 6 seconds of thought, takes the draw by repetition. Read more →
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. — George Addair
My Boyhood Sports Icons Are Dying: Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse was a major league catcher from 1967 to 1979, a two-time All-Star for the Cleveland Indians, a two-time World Series champion with the Oakland A’s, and a two-time Gold Glove winner. It probably has to be said that Fosse may be best remembered for the final play of the 1970 All-Star Game, in which he was injured in a collision with Pete Rose at home plate. Fosse sustained a fractured and separated shoulder, which healed incorrectly, causing chronic pain that was never entirely resolved. It was a controversial play. Rose said that he was simply trying to win the game, and it was well known that he played the game as aggressively as anyone. I assume Fosse thought that even Rose wouldn’t try to bolo him in an exhibition game, or maybe he was just trying to make a good baseball play. It does look from the photo… Read more →
Government Should Be a Referee
Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government — in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost comes in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. — Milton Friedman Read more →
Chess Game of the Day: Four Knights Game
One of my online chess games. Some annotations below . . . 2. Nc3 Vienna Game 3. …Nc6 Four Knights Game 4. Nd5?! I think Bb5 or d4 is more common but I like this move. 7. Nxf6+ Qe2+ is a possibility. 8. …Be7 I feel like …h6 is an improvement as it prevents White’s next move. 12. Nxd4 Black seems to be in good shape with something like …Ng6 instead of 12. …Qxd4?? followed by loss of the queen. Read more →
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. — Goethe
To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s. — Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Our schools and colleges are turning out people who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. The price of their self-indulgence is the sacrifice of our freedom. If we don’t defend ourselves against them, who will? — Thomas Sowell
Van Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl
He’s 76, but he still sings as well as anyone. Great show, great band. I tried to reconstruct the set here as a playlist. He did “In the Afternoon,” “Help Me,” “Raincheck,” “Burning Ground” and “Ancient Highway” as a medley, not one right after the other, but blended together as a long — what’s the right word? — let’s say a long reverie. There may have been snippets of a couple other things in there as well . . . something about Big Joe Turner and sittin’ pretty. He did more of a standard version of “Help Me” as an encore, then “Gloria” as a second encore. Read more →
Débrouillard
Débrouillard is what every plongeur wants to be called. A débrouillard is a man who, even when he is told to do the impossible, will se débrouiller — get it done somehow. One of the kitchen plongeurs at the Hôtel X, a German, was well known as a débrouillard. One night an English lord came to the hotel, and the waiters were in despair, for the lord had asked for peaches, and there were none in stock; it was late at night, and the shops would be shut. “Leave it to me,” said the German. He went out, and in ten minutes he was back with four peaches. He had gone into a neighbouring restaurant and stolen them. That is what is meant by a débrouillard. The English lord paid for the peaches at twenty francs each. —George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London Read more →
More Words and Phrases I’m Sick Unto Death Of: Accidental Overdose
I hardly ever hear the word “overdose” by itself anymore, as in “so-and-so died of an overdose.” It’s always “so-and-so died of an accidental overdose.” Isn’t that redundant? If you want to put it that way, wouldn’t the only alternative be an intentional overdose? Which would be a suicide. The word “overdose” implies accidental. Someone tried to make themselves feel better in a high-risk way and miscalibrated. So it’s either a suicide or an overdose, not an “accidental overdose.” End of story. Read more →
Chess Game of the Day: 8-Move Closed Sicilian
One of my online chess games. A few annotations below. 2. Nc3 (Closed Sicilian Defense) 5. …Bg4 Everything’s been pretty standard thus far but this is unusual compared to, say, Be7. 7. Nxe5! I’m generously giving myself an exclamation point on this. 7. …Bxd1?? That must have been very tempting but it leads to a forced mate. Better to take the knight on e5. 8. Bxf7+ After 8. …Ke1 (forced) 9. Nd5# is mate. Read more →
Psaki: “Unfair and Absurd”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed during Monday’s press briefing that it would be “unfair and absurd” for companies to raise costs on consumers in response to the Biden administration raising the corporate tax rate: Jen Psaki: It’s “unfair and absurd” that companies would increase costs for consumers in response to us taxing them more. ? pic.twitter.com/rHilrYdj4j — Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) September 28, 2021 You can depersonalize the theft by saying “Well, it’s corporate tax rates — greedy corporations, you know.” You don’t need to be an economist to understand that corporate taxes, like any taxes, have to be paid by people: either shareholders, or employees in the form of lower wages, or customers in the form of higher prices. The money has to come from somewhere. Read more →
A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.
— Alexander Pope