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Monthly Archives: March 2020
Trump Lied While We The People Died
Fiddle while Rome burns
To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fiddle-while-rome-burns
Pelosi on Trump’s coronavirus response: ‘As the President fiddles, people are dying’
By Chandelis Duster, CNN
Updated 11:06 AM ET, Sun March 29, 2020
Washington (CNN)House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying “his denial at the beginning was deadly” and that as he “fiddles, people are dying.”
“We should be taking every precaution. What the President, his denial at the beginning was deadly,” Pelosi said in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
As US cases surge, Pelosi questioned when Trump was informed about the coronavirus and his knowledge on its potential impact. “I don’t know what the scientists said to him, when did this President know about this, and what did he know? What did he know and when did he know it? That’s for an after-action review. But as the President fiddles, people are dying. And we just have to take every precaution.”
Asked by Tapper if she believes Trump’s downplaying of the crisis has cost American lives, Pelosi responded, “Yes, I am. I’m saying that.”
“Because when he made the other day when he was signing the bill, he said just think 20 days ago everything was great. No, everything wasn’t great,” she said. “We had nearly 500 cases and 17 deaths already. And in that 20 days because we weren’t prepared, we now have 2,000 deaths and 100,000 cases.”
When asked about Trump suggesting he wants to relax social distancing guidelines in parts of the country, Pelosi said, “His delaying of getting equipment to where it — it continues his delay in getting equipment to where it’s needed, is deadly. And now I think the best thing would be to do is to prevent more loss of life rather than open things up, because we just don’t know.”
The bill allocates at least $1.25 billion to the states and $500 million to the District of Columbia. Some have criticized the bill, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Democratic governor was critical of the funding amount, saying the bill did not “address the revenue shortfall.”
Asked about Cuomo’s comment, Pelosi said, “We have to do more.” She called the bill “a down payment.”
“I’ve talked to the chairman of the Fed, the Federal Reserve Bank, Mr. Powell, Chairman (Jerome) Powell, and asked him to do much more because they have the authority to do so, even more authority, since we passed this bill,” she told Tapper. “But we have to pass another bill that goes to meeting the need more substantially than we have.”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/29/politics/nancy-pelosi-coronavirus-cnntv/index.html
Barbra Streisand Talks New Album ‘Walls’ and Its Trump-Dissing Single ‘Don’t Lie to Me’
9/27/2018 by Joe Lynch
Barbra Streisand, an inarguable Greatest of All Time talent when it comes to the stage, screen and recording studio, returns to music on Nov. 2 with the release of a new album, Walls,
her first LP consisting primarily of original songs since 2005.
If the word “walls” makes you think of a particular sitting president’s signature campaign promise, well, take a listen to its lead single, the just-dropped “Don’t Lie to Me.” An impassioned, dramatic ballad with pointed barbs at a particular man of power who likes to “change the facts to justify” his actions, it’s hard not to read it as a dig at Trump.
“I had to write this song,” Streisand tells Billboard. “These times gave me energy.” But while Walls is inspired by the turbulent times we find ourselves in, it’s also universal, speaking to a sense of hope and resilience in the face of falsehoods and the “smoke and mirrors” described in this new single. “There’s a light coming in and hope for the future,” she says. “We have to grow as a nation.”
Just ahead of the song’s release, the icon (and we don’t use that word lightly – she’s the only recording artist to nab a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in six consecutive decades) hopped on the phone with Billboard to discuss why she returned to songwriting, how one of the songs on Walls is inspired by a scene from Funny Girl, what she thinks about Lady Gaga’s A Star Is Born — and why she turned down a chance to direct a remake some years ago.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8477132/barbra-streisand-new-album-walls-interview
Don’t Lie to Me
Barbra Streisand
Produced by Jonas Myrin & John Shanks
Album Walls
[Verse 1]
Why can’t you just tell me the truth?
Hard to believe the things you say
Why can’t you feel the tears I cry today?
Cried today, cried today
How do you win if we all lose?
You change the facts to justify
Your lips move but your words get in the way
In the way, in the way
[Pre-Chorus]
Kings and queens, crooks and thieves
You don’t see the forest for the trees
Hand and heart, on our knees
You can’t see what we all see
[Chorus]
How do you sleep when the world keeps turning?
All that we built has come undone
How do you sleep when the world is burning?
Everyone answers to someone
[Post-Chorus]
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
[Verse 2]
You can build towers of bronze and gold
You can paint castles in the sky
You can use smoke and mirrors, old clichés
Not today, not today
[Pre-Chorus]
Kings and queens, crooks and thieves
You don’t see the forest for the trees
Hand on heart, down on knees
You can’t see what everyone sees
[Chorus]
How do you sleep when the world keeps turning?
All that we built has come undone
How do you sleep when the world is burning?
Everyone answers to someone
[Post-Chorus]
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
[Bridge]
Can’t you see I’m crying?
Can’t you see we’re crying?
Where’s the new horizon?
Where’s the new horizon?
[Hook]
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep?
(How do you sleep when the world keeps turning?
All that we built has come undone)
Enough is enough
How do you sleep?
(How do you sleep when the world is burning?
Everyone answers to someone)
[Post-Chorus]
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me, you lie to me
[Outro]
Can’t you see I’m crying?
Can’t you see we’re crying? (Can’t you see we’re crying?)
Everyone answers to someone
https://genius.com/Barbra-streisand-dont-lie-to-me-lyrics
Is Magnus Carlsen Infected With The Trumpitis Virus?
I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading several articles concerning the “postponement” of the 2020 Candidates Chess tournament, and every reply. The articles, Carlsen, Dvorkovich & Kramnik on ending the Candidates (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-dvorkovich-kramnik-on-ending-the-candidates), and Azerbaijan National Team Writes Open Letter Regarding Radjabov, Candidates (https://www.chess.com/news/view/azerbaijan-team-open-letter-fide-radjabov), resonated deeply. In addition, an excellent article at Chessbase, Cancelled: When the war put a stop to top chess events (https://en.chessbase.com/post/cancelled-when-the-war-cut-top-events-short) was read, but does not figure into this post. It does, though, give some perspective on the situation in which Chess languishes.
Magnus Carlsen
is the World Chess Co-Champion of Classical Chess, by his own admission. Magnus was unable to win even one classical game in the last match for the the World Human Chess Championship with Fabiano Caruana.
He was able to beat Sergey Karjakin
only once in the previous match. He did, though, also lose one game. Magnus is considered World Human Chess Champion only because he happens to be better at playing ‘hurry up and get it over’ Chess.
Mr. Carlsen is proof positive that Chess does not make one “smart.” From the Chess24 article:
Carlsen on Kramnik (and Lawrence’s) suggestion to give Radjabov a 2022 wild card
“This is just my opinion. I think if he had wanted to play the tournament he would have played it.”
Lawrence: You think he didn’t want to play it, not related to the crisis?
“I think it’s partly but not fully. That is just my opinion. I think he was very happy to win the World Cup but he didn’t particularly fancy playing the Candidates, which I can understand. It’s an ordeal, and he had a rough time the last time [in the 2013 London Candidates Radjabov lost 7 games and finished last, 2 points behind the next player]. Obviously the corona situation gave his already I would think pre-existing opinion that he didn’t particularly want to play a lot of substance, that now he had a legitimate reason not to play. I’m not saying that his reason was not legitimate, I’m just saying that all the other guys did play and I’m sure they had concerns as well. That is just my take.
You can see that with Maxime, for instance. He stepped in on short notice and he’s not been one of the guys who’s complained at all about the situation. He’s just happy to be there, he wants to play and all of that stuff about it being a difficult situation and so on – yeah, of course it’s a difficult situation, of course it’s not the best atmosphere for a chess tournament, but you chose to be there, and so if you choose to be there then you play, you do your job and you have to trust the authorities there to make the decisions – FIDE, the Russian government and so on. As long as they feel that it’s safe to hold the tournament then you’re holding it.
Obviously the situation we have now is not ideal, but I think giving Radjabov the wild card for 2022 – that I would find just ridiculous. You could make the case that he should actually play in this one now that it’s been postponed and the situation is different. I don’t feel that way, I don’t know the law, I don’t know what is supposed to happen there, but to me it doesn’t feel justified that he should play even if it resumes, but I would understand it. But 2022… no!”
Evidently the World Co-Chess Champ of Classical Chess is a mind reader. Mr. Carlsen mentions a bad tournament by Mr. Radjabov SEVEN YEARS AGO! AS we go through life we change. An example would be the article, How your personality changes as you age, in which we find, “Our personalities were long thought to be fixed by the time we reach our 30s, but the latest research suggests they change throughout our lives.” (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200313-how-your-personality-changes-as-you-age)
Teimour Radjabov
https://www.chess.com/news/view/teimour-radjabov-interview-fide-candidates-chess
is a different person than he was in 2013. Could it be that Magnus, after playing over the recent games of Mr. Radjabov would prefer to NOT have to face Mr. Radjabov? Magnus Carlsen is twenty nine years of age and in Chess terms getting a little long in the tooth.
Consider this reply by KoustavChatterjee1:
“It’s amazing how arrogant some chess players are. They still say that Rajdabov withdrawing was because he was afraid of playing in the Candidates, even though there’s so much evidence to the contrary (him hiring seconds, the amount of prep etc).
Rajdabov is completely validated in his decision to withdraw from the event, as health and safety matters way more than chess. The players who went and played, didn’t do anything brave. They were just thinking about their careers and acting as professionals. Rajdabov sacrificed one of the best opportunities of his career for the greater good.
This thread is a perfect example as to how playing chess doesn’t correlate with being generally smart – proven by the World champ, and multiple people who commented here – who don’t realize that a tournament (no matter how important) is not worth the potential risks that a deadly pandemic entails.” (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-dvorkovich-kramnik-on-ending-the-candidates)
Then there is this from BabarBouzouardo:
“Carlsen speaking of Radjabov: “That is just my opinion. I think he was very happy to win the World Cup, but he didn’t particularly fancy playing the Candidates, which I can understand. It’s an ordeal, and he had a rough time the last time [in the 2013 London Candidates Radjabov lost 7 games and finished last, 2 points behind the next player]. Obviously the corona situation gave his already I would think pre-existing opinion that he didn’t particularly want to play a lot of substance, that now he had a legitimate reason not to play.” … Bravo chess genius, you figured out everything about all subjects! Indeed you are a genius …! At first, Carlsen looked polite, respectful and rather kind. It was the time when, as a teenager, he was accompanied to chess tournaments by his father. He then gradually became a young man and his father was no longer in the picture; at this point you could see a change in his character. He became more and more provocative, aggressive. Now that he has become world champion and is on the threshold of the 30 year age group, he clearly got a swollen head/ego and he has become an arrogant character full of himself. Is Carlsen infected with the Trumpitis virus? … Or, is he just a chess genius and simply an idiot? … Carlsen can now, disrespect competitors and fart higher than his ass as long as he is champion and get away with it, and with no consequences! But even the great Kasparov had to give way to a younger player by the age of 37 and even retire at 40! …. So what could an idiotic Carlen do, he who has not learned a thing, or known something, about reality and life. Once his chess lights will dim out, what will he do and how will he live in society? … I guess in contempt and bitterness!” (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-dvorkovich-kramnik-on-ending-the-candidates)
I have been amazed at some of the things heard and read. WAKE UP PEOPLE! COVID-19 is not simply going to blow away with the wind. Things will most definitely NOT return to normal, whatever your interpretation of what is ‘normal’. For example:
Scientists warn we may need to live with social distancing for a year or more
Researchers say we face a horrible choice: practice social distancing for months or a year, or let hundreds of thousands die.
By Brian Resnick@B_resnickbrian@vox.com Mar 17, 2020, 12:00pm EDT
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/17/21181694/coronavirus-covid-19-lockdowns-end-how-long-months-years
Or this:
“Americans need to prepare for the possibility of COVID-19 coming back as a seasonal illness,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a White House press briefing on Wednesday.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said there have been cases in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere, which is approaching colder seasons.
“If they have a substantial outbreak, it will be inevitable that we’ll get a cycle around the second time,” he said.”
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article241513906.html#storylink=cpy
People in the Chess world need to understand that, in the immortal words of Bob Dylan:
In a fight between life and death Chess becomes irrelevant.
Virus Hits Hard Across Georgia
By Alan Judd
Confirmed cases up 472%; Death rate climbing
Georgia is under a particularly brutal siege from the novel coronavirus, a situation unlikely to end for weeks or even longer
https://epaper.ajc.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=8e0858ee-1443-484d-9e94-f8b8a1eaaaff
This can be found on the front page of the Friday, March 27, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unfortunately for Georgians this, too, can be found on the front page:
Governor says drastic measures not yet needed state wide
I cannot help but wonder what percentage the number of cases would have to increase for the thief who stole the election by suppressing the vote to enact “drastic measures.” It will come as no surprise to learn Brian Kemp is a Republican. Any sane person would see what is happening around the country and do everything in his power to PREPARE for what is coming, if not already here.
In addition, how many have wondered what would be happening if Stacey Abrams
had become Governor of the Great State of Georgia? How many wonder how different things would be if Hillary Clinton
had not been cheated out of victory by Russian interference, and those traitorous scoundrels who welcomed, and used, assistance from the nefarious Russians?
Bob Dylan’s Absolutely Mind-Blowing New Song ‘Murder Most Foul’
Hear Bob Dylan’s Absolutely Mind-Blowing New Song ‘Murder Most Foul’
Dylan’s first original song in eight years is about JFK’s assassination — but it’s really about so much more
By Brain Hyatt
Bob Dylan, who hasn’t released an original song since 2012’s Tempest , unexpectedly dropped a previously unheard, nearly 17-minute-long new track, “Murder Most Foul,” late Thursday night.
Dylan didn’t say exactly when the song was recorded, but his delicate vocal delivery resembles the way he’s been singing in his live shows in the past couple of years. “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years,” Dylan said in a statement. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant, and may God be with you.”
This dizzying, utterly extraordinary song — as allusive as it is elusive — starts off seeming like it might be a straightforward recounting of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but expands into an impressionistic, elegiac, increasingly apocalyptic journey through what feels like the entire Sixties (complete with references to the Who’s Tommy, Woodstock, and Altamont) and then perhaps all of 20th-century America, especially its music.
Hear Bob Dylan’s Absolutely Mind-Blowing New Song ‘Murder Most Foul’
The official Bob Dylan website:
Bob Dylan – ‘Murder Most Foul’ lyrics:
Twas a dark day in Dallas, November ’63
A day that will live on in infamy
President Kennedy was a-ridin’ high
Good day to be livin’ and a good day to die
Being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb
He said, “Wait a minute, boys, you know who I am?”
“Of course we do. We know who you are.”
Then they blew off his head while he was still in the car
Shot down like a dog in broad daylight
Was a matter of timing and the timing was right
You got unpaid debts; we’ve come to collect
We’re gonna kill you with hatred; without any respect
We’ll mock you and shock you and we’ll put it in your face
We’ve already got someone here to take your place
The day they blew out the brains of the king
Thousands were watching; no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly, so quick, by surprise
Right there in front of everyone’s eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Wolfman, oh wolfman, oh wolfman howl
Rub-a-dub-dub, it’s a murder most foul
Hush, little children. You’ll understand
The Beatles are comin’; they’re gonna hold your hand
Slide down the banister, go get your coat
Ferry ‘cross the Mersey and go for the throat
There’s three bums comin’ all dressed in rags
Pick up the pieces and lower the flags
I’m going to Woodstock; it’s the Aquarian Age
Then I’ll go to Altamont and sit near the stage
Put your head out the window; let the good times roll
There’s a party going on behind the Grassy Knoll
Stack up the bricks, pour the cement
Don’t say Dallas don’t love you, Mr. President
Put your foot in the tank and step on the gas
Try to make it to the triple underpass
Blackface singer, whiteface clown
Better not show your faces after the sun goes down
Up in the red light district, they’ve got cop on the beat
Living in a nightmare on Elm Street
When you’re down in Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoe
Don’t ask what your country can do for you
Cash on the ballot, money to burn
Dealey Plaza, make left-hand turn
I’m going down to the crossroads; gonna flag a ride
The place where faith, hope, and charity died
Shoot him while he runs, boy. Shoot him while you can
See if you can shoot the invisible man
Goodbye, Charlie. Goodbye, Uncle Sam
Frankly, Miss Scarlett, I don’t give a damn
What is the truth, and where did it go?
Ask Oswald and Ruby; they oughta know
“Shut your mouth,” said the wise old owl
Business is business, and it’s a murder most foul
Tommy, can you hear me? I’m the Acid Queen
I’m riding in a long, black limousine
Riding in the backseat next to my wife
Heading straight on in to the afterlife
I’m leaning to the left; got my head in her lap
Hold on, I’ve been led into some kind of a trap
Where we ask no quarter, and no quarter do we give
We’re right down the street from the street where you live
They mutilated his body, and they took out his brain
What more could they do? They piled on the pain
But his soul’s not there where it was supposed to be at
For the last fifty years they’ve been searchin’ for that
Freedom, oh freedom. Freedom cover me
I hate to tell you, mister, but only dead men are free
Send me some lovin’; tell me no lies
Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
Wake up, little Susie; let’s go for a drive
Cross the Trinity River; let’s keep hope alive
Turn the radio on; don’t touch the dials
Parkland hospital, only six more miles
You got me dizzy, Miss Lizzy. You filled me with lead
That magic bullet of yours has gone to my head
I’m just a patsy like Patsy Cline
Never shot anyone from in front or behind
I’ve blood in my eye, got blood in my ear
I’m never gonna make it to the new frontier
Zapruder’s film I seen night before
Seen it 33 times, maybe more
It’s vile and deceitful. It’s cruel and it’s mean
Ugliest thing that you ever have seen
They killed him once and they killed him twice
Killed him like a human sacrifice
The day that they killed him, someone said to me, “Son
The age of the Antichrist has only begun.”
Air Force One coming in through the gate
Johnson sworn in at 2:38
Let me know when you decide to thrown in the towel
It is what it is, and it’s murder most foul
What’s new, pussycat? What’d I say?
I said the soul of a nation been torn away
And it’s beginning to go into a slow decay
And that it’s 36 hours past Judgment Day
Wolfman Jack, speaking in tongues
He’s going on and on at the top of his lungs
Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack
Play it for me in my long Cadillac
Play me that ‘Only the Good Die Young’
Take me to the place Tom Dooley was hung
Play St. James Infirmary and the Court of King James
If you want to remember, you better write down the names
Play Etta James, too. Play ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’
Play it for the man with the telepathic mind
Play John Lee Hooker. Play ‘Scratch My Back’.
Play it for that strip club owner named Jack
Guitar Slim going down slow
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe
Play ‘Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’
Play it for the First Lady, she ain’t feeling any good
Play Don Henley, play Glenn Frey
Take it to the limit and let it go by
Play it for Karl Wirsum, too
Looking far, far away at Down Gallow Avenue
Play tragedy, play “Twilight Time”
Take me back to Tulsa to the scene of the crime
Play another one and “Another One Bites the Dust”
Play “The Old Rugged Cross” and “In God We Trust”
Ride the pink horse down the long, lonesome road
Stand there and wait for his head to explode
Play “Mystery Train” for Mr. Mystery
The man who fell down dead like a rootless tree
Play it for the Reverend; play it for the Pastor
Play it for the dog that got no master
Play Oscar Peterson. Play Stan Getz
Play “Blue Sky”; play Dickey Betts
Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker and all that junk
All that junk and “All That Jazz”
Play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz
Play Buster Keaton, play Harold Lloyd
Play Bugsy Siegel, play Pretty Boy Floyd
Play the numbers, play the odds
Play “Cry Me A River” for the Lord of the gods
Play number 9, play number 6
Play it for Lindsey and Stevie Nicks
Play Nat King Cole, play “Nature Boy”
Play “Down In The Boondocks” for Terry Malloy
Play “It Happened One Night” and “One Night of Sin”
There’s 12 Million souls that are listening in
Play “Merchant of Venice”, play “Merchants of Death”
Play “Stella by Starlight” for Lady Macbeth
Don’t worry, Mr. President. Help’s on the way
Your brothers are coming; there’ll be hell to pay
Brothers? What brothers? What’s this about hell?
Tell them, “We’re waiting. Keep coming.” We’ll get them as well
Love Field is where his plane touched down
But it never did get back up off the ground
Was a hard act to follow, second to none
They killed him on the altar of the rising sun
Play “Misty” for me and “That Old Devil Moon”
Play “Anything Goes” and “Memphis in June”
Play “Lonely At the Top” and “Lonely Are the Brave”
Play it for Houdini spinning around his grave
Play Jelly Roll Morton, play “Lucille”
Play “Deep In a Dream”, and play “Driving Wheel”
Play “Moonlight Sonata” in F-sharp
And “A Key to the Highway” for the king on the harp
Play “Marching Through Georgia” and “Dumbarton’s Drums”
Play darkness and death will come when it comes
Play “Love Me Or Leave Me” by the great Bud Powell
Play “The Blood-stained Banner”, play “Murder Most Foul”
Who Killed JFK?
https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/who-killed-jfk/
JFK
https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2018/11/22/jfk/
Chess and the JFK Assassination
https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/chess-and-the-jfk-assassination/
November 22, 1963: A Day Which Lives In Infamy
https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2019/11/22/november-22-1963-a-day-which-lives-in-infamy/
Theory Of Shadows: A Review
https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2019/05/24/theory-of-shadows-a-review/
Open Response to Vladimir Putin
Vladimir,
I applaud your decision to end the 2020 Candidates tournament while regretting the tournament has only been postponed in lieu of terminated. As I posted in a comment at ChessBase:
The tournament should have been declared null and void. As far as what happens in the future that should be determined in the future because the sad fact of the matter is that one, or some, of the participants may not be alive in the aftermath of the COVID-19 devastation. In addition, there is the question of whether or not Chess will survive in the future. People of the future may have much more important things, such as survival, to occupy their time.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/breaking-news-fide-stops-the-candidates-tournament
You and I are old, Vladimir. There is much more sand in the bottom of our hour glasses than the top. For those we leave behind I think of the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King,
“We shall overcome.” (https://www.smu.edu/News/2014/mlk-at-smu-transcript-17march1966) Hopefully, the people of this planet will overcome this latest challenge.
I urge you to turn your swords into plowshares (https://biblehub.com/isaiah/2-4.htm), as I urge each and every other country to do the same. Be a force for good, not evil. It is time for the leaders of the world to, as the Beatles sang, “come together” in a spirit of cooperation. Give peace a chance. Be a force for construction, not destruction. As John F. Kennedy so eloquently said:
“Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
John F. Kennedy
http://www.humanity.org/voices/commencements/john.f.kennedy-american-university-speech-1963
Sincerely,
Armchair Warrior
An Open Letter To Vladimir Putin
Mr. Putin,
Would you prefer to be called Vlad, or Impaler?
Now that one of your favorites, Ian Nepomniachtchi, has lost a game, while coughing his head off:
Coughing but winning: Russia’s ‘unwell’ Nepo destroys Chinese rivals & surges into World Chess Candidates lead
24 Mar, 2020 10:58
https://www.rt.com/sport/483928-world-chess-candidates-ian-nepomniachtchi/
and Alexander Grischuk has stated:
‘I don’t want to be here’ – Russian GM Grischuk asks for Candidates to be called off
https://www.espn.com/chess/story/_/id/28942387/russian-grandmaster-asks-chess-tournament-candidates-called-off
that leaves only one Russian player left attempting to hold up the ‘honor’ of your beloved Mother F’n Russia, your ‘boy’ Kirill ‘Shill’ Alekseenko,
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/alekseenko-the-candidates-wild-card-should-be-abolished
currently tied for last place, the ‘wild card’ who should never have been allowed to play in such a prestigious event. Even the young man, who stated, “The Candidates wild card should be abolished”, knows he does not belong.
Of two other Russian players, Nepo, one is physically sick, possibly infecting the other players and officials as I write, and the other, Grischuk, is obviously mentally weakened, with the possibility of becoming a ‘basket case’.
Holding the tournament has done, and will continue to do irreparable harm to the Royal Game. By insisting the tournament be played you have greatly insulted Caissa. Your gambit did not work, Vlady.
Headlines such as the following have prompted emails from readers of this blog asking, “What is wrong with Chess?”
Players unhappy as Candidates chess continues
You, sir, Vlad the Impaler, are what is wrong with Chess!
Chess players have been taught by the famous example of former World Chess Champion Jose Capablanca
to immediately correct a weak move by returning the piece to the previous square. Holding the Candidates tournament during this time of crisis when every other game or sport has been cancelled was a mistake. Admit your mistake and give the order to your minion, FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich,
to END THIS FARCE NOW BEFORE IT BECOMES A TRAGEDY!
The Difference Between Donald Trump and Jimmy Carter
Having watched the first thirteen seasons of Ancient Aliens
https://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens
I had fallen behind. Needing something to occupy my time, and divert attention from the news, I checked out AA and, to my surprise, found it was in the fifteenth season. It was amazing to see the fourteenth season contained twenty-two, the most ever in one season, episodes. I have binged on them to the point there is only one episode of the fifteenth season to watch. Fortunately, the season continues…
The last episode watched was The Immortality Machine, which aired TV Mar 14, 2020. During the episode a story was told of a gentleman who lived inside Big Rock, the name of the huge rock. I learned something not previously known while watching. During World War II there was a draft for men aged between 50 something and 64. When the deputies came out to bring him in, the guy who lived in a rock pressed two wires together and blew himself to smithereens.
If the current POTUS, the Trumpster, were to call for a “geezer force” I would laugh, because everything he says these daze makes me laugh…to keep from crying.
If former Governor of the Great State of Georgia, and President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, were to call for a “geezer force” I would be the first to join. This would be done because I know Jimmy would be right their beside me, shoulder to shoulder, leading by example, just as he has all his life. One example among many would be the work he has done getting his hands dirty with the Habitat For Humanity (https://www.habitat.org/).
Jimmy Carter back to building houses after hip surgery
By Devan Cole and Betsy Klein, CNN
Updated 9:51 AM ET, Tue August 27, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/politics/jimmy-carter-habitat-for-humanity-homes-hip-surgery/index.html
The Habitat for Humanity Build Jimmy Carter Called His Favorite
Where have you gone, Jimmy Carter? The nation sure could use a man like you right about now…
Because of the calamitous situation in which we find ourselves I urge you to to give strong consideration to watching a program about viruses:
Ancient Aliens
S 14 E 9
The Alien Infection
42m | 2019 | TV-PG | CC
In 2016, scientists made the astonishing discovery that 30 percent of all protein adaptations since humans’ divergence with chimpanzees have been driven by viruses. Could ancient aliens have shaped human evolution by introducing viral epidemics on Earth? And if so, for what purpose? Are they making us more like them?
https://play.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/season-14/episode-9
All episodes can be watched free of charge. You can thank me later…
Open Letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Fauci,
Trumpster, Pence and Dr. Anthony Fauci
The headline was:
Dr. Anthony Fauci: I Don’t Want to ‘Embarrass’ Trump
In a new interview, the face of the national coronavirus response opened up about “telling the president things he doesn’t want to hear.”
Matt Wilstein
Senior Writer
Updated Mar. 22, 2020 1:09AM ET / Published Mar. 21, 2020 8:57PM ET
https://www.thedailybeast.com/dr-anthony-fauci-i-dont-want-to-embarrass-trump
Sir, you do not have to worry about embarrassing Trump. He embarrasses himself every time he opens his small, round mouth.
For example, as We The People sit home wondering how to pay the rent/mortgage, or if we are GOING TO DIE, when lobbed a softball question by NBC News reporter Peter Alexander “…what he would say to the millions of Americans scared by the death toll and infection numbers, Trump shot back: “I say that you are a terrible reporter, that’s what I say.”
Peter Alexander
is a fine reporter. Donald Trump is a terrible POTUS.
When the country, and the world, needs leadership one reflects on a time when another President’s did rise to the occasion, as did Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt during the worst of what is today called the Great Depression:
FDR hit one out of the stadium, like the Bambino
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Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat https://www.thoughtco.com/babe-ruth-1779893
Like Casey at the Bat the Trumpster again swung and missed, making him 0 for his Presidency.
Casey at the Bat
By Ernest Lawrence Thayer
A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888
The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that—
We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped—
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”
“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clinched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45398/casey-at-the-bat
End The Candidates Tournament Now!
The FIDE Candidates tournament should never have been started. The tournament was begun because Russian dictator Vladimir Putin craves attention in a way only superseded by POTUS Donald John Trump.
Why is it Putin is invariably the only one smiling in pictures taken with Trump?
The Russians cheat at everything they attempt. Because of Russian interference in the previous Presidential election, Hillary Clinton
was cheated out of becoming POTUS. Everyone other than the thirty something percent of people who support the obviously deranged Trump knows this fact, including the Hitlerian thirty something percent of deranged people who support any clown foisted on them by the Republican party.
The Russians have been banned from participating in the Olympic games in the coming years for cheating. This was a terrible for the ego of Vlad the Impaler because without attention he is nothing. Other than petrol and Chess Russia has nothing. Vlad the Impaler has previously said, “Chess is our Baseball.” Putin would like nothing better than for a Russian to face World Human Chess Co-Champion of Classical Chess Magnus Carlsen.
Two of the players, one quarter of the players, currently participating in the 2020 Candidates tournament were not eligible to participate. Kirill Alekseenko,
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/alekseenko-the-candidates-wild-card-should-be-abolished
a Russian, and by far the lowest rated player in the tournament, was a “wild card.” This was, and is, ridiculous to the point of absurdity because the Candidates tournament is played to choose a challenger for the title of World Human Chess Champion. The tournament is far too prestigious to have some local yokel battling against the very best Chess players in the world who have devoted their lives to the game and who have earned entry to the tournament with that hard work over the course of many years.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,
from France, was chosen to replace the only sane Chess player involved with the ill-fated Candidates, Teimur Radjabov,
from Azerbaijan, who declined to travel to Russia because of the COVID-19 virus. The tournament should have been called off at that moment. If the Chess community felt strongly enough to hold the tournament, then certainly the young player Alekseenko should have been dropped, leaving six players who did qualify to play. But why would Putin agree to such an outcome when having an extra Russian player with no chance of winning the event to possibly take orders, directly from Vlad the Impaler, to intentionally lose to whomever Putin desired? As Chess player Oscar Al Hamilton was fond of saying, “Everything is rigged.” History shows us that is certainly true of Russia.
The tournament continues even with players saying things like this:
“Referring to the worldwide crisis we are going through, Caruana expressed his doubts as to whether he will be able to return to the United States by the time the tournament is over, while Giri is putting all his hopes on the International Chess Federation:
I have faith in a private jet of FIDE, that will fly all players to their houses.
This was certainly the least exciting game of the round. Grischuk did get a little pressure with White, but Ding played it safe once he realized he could get in trouble. After the game, the players were asked about their form. The Coronavirus crisis had a strong impact on Grischuk:
My form is terrible. I don’t want to play at all with all this situation. I mean, when it was beginning I did not have a big opinion, but now for several days I have a very clear opinion: that the tournament should be stopped. I mean, the whole atmosphere is very hostile.
Ding, on the other hand, is enjoying having made an adjustment to his living conditions in Yekaterinburg:
My form is much better comparing to the first two days. Since I moved to a new hotel, I got some fresh air and life became more beautiful.”
https://en.chessbase.com/post/candidates-2020-r5
Anyone who “…has faith in FIDE…” is a fool. Just because Anish Giri
is one of the best human Chess players on the planet does not mean he is intelligent in other facets of life.
How can Fabiano Caruana
concentrate on playing Chess when he has “…expressed his doubts as to whether he will be able to return to the United States by the time the tournament is over?” The United States government should send a plane IMMEDIATELY to bring Fabi home! If that is not possible how about the billionaire, who must be losing money as fast as a crazed gambler in Las Vegas, Rex Sinquefield,
sending a plane to Russia to save Caruana. Mr. Sinquefield could possibly pull some strings with other people from the super-wealthy class to make it happen. We are perilously close to a time like the Russian revolution of a century ago with Doctor Zhivago having to share his family mansion with the hoi poi.
Fabiano Caruana deserves a rematch with World Human Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. I call upon Rex Sinquefield to organize a match between the two Co-Classical World Human Chess Champions, as Magnus Carlsen stated, played in the opulent St. Louis Chess Club,
in the future, if we make it out of these dire times, played OUTSIDE OF FIDE auspices. The match could be of sixteen games, the number, if memory serves, chosen by former World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik,
who ought to know as he played more matches for the World Chess Championship than any other player, I believe. If tied at the end of regulation then two game mini-matches could be played until there is a winner. Only Mr. Sinquefield could do this because there would be no obstacle to having a match that goes into overtime if held in St. Louis.
We are in the early days of a revolution. Chess will having little meaning in the aftermath of the virus that is changing the world. No matter how this plays out things will NEVER be the same. Certainly Chess will never return to even the weakened status currently held in society. Chess, like other games and sports, will take a back seat to SURVIVAL.
Much was expected of Ding Liren before the tournament but he was forced into isolation because of the COVID-19 virus. That in itself should have been enough for at least a postponement of the 2020 Candidates tournament. Ding said, “My form is much better comparing to the first two days. Since I moved to a new hotel, I got some fresh air and life became more beautiful.” Consider this when considering what isolation has already done to this person:
Man falls to his death from 16th floor of luxury flats during coronavirus isolation
By Andrew Gilpin
22 MAR 2020
A man has fallen to his death from the 16th floor of a luxury apartment block as people self isolate due to coronavirus.
The horror incident in the Tribeca Park apartment block in New York saw him die instantly when he hit the courtyard.
Shocked neighbours said the 64-year-old’s death has left them shaken as they are in quarantine from the deadly disease.
One woman saw what happened when we she went outside to smoke a cigarette told the New York Post: “You have to be mentally strong to take on isolation.
“The uncertainty of what’s going to happen is scary.”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/man-falls-death-16th-floor-21735275
How can any human play Chess when “The uncertainty of what’s going to happen is scary.”
Where is the outrage from the American Chess community? Surf on over to the USCF website and try finding one word from any leader of US Chess concerning the sordid situation in which We The People find ourselves. I have gone to many Chess website, such as Chessbase, Chess.com, and Chess24, in a futile attempt to read the thoughts of any person in authority. The silence is deafening.
I have expected little from the current leadership of the USCF and have rarely been disappointed. That said, I now call on the Chess community to get “up in arms,” metaphorically speaking, and SPEAK OUT. Now is not the time to remain silent, people.
Like Mrs. Robinson, the world turns it’s lonely eyes to you. (https://genius.com/Simon-and-garfunkel-mrs-robinson-lyrics)
END THE CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT NOW!
Armchair Warrior 