Flack From Jack 12/13/08

Random Thoughts From the Last Few Days

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Quote for the Day 7/29/08

I know that Barack Obama is a near-perfect political package. I'm still not sure, though, what's in it.

- Richard Cohen, left-wing columnist, Washington Post

Krauthammer Template

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My take on Charles Krauthammer's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: One paragraph narrative.

Quote:

Narrative 25 words.

My Views: Main body. May be several paragraphs.

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Charles Krauthammer is a more establishment columnist. He came to punditry by way of psychiatry (at Massachusetts General Hospital) via the New Republic Magazine. He appears on TV where you never see his wheelchair. Here's his Wiki bio.

He wrote a book which is pictured at the right. I am drawn by the substance and the thinking than any particular writing flair.

Coulter Template

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My take on Ann Coulter's latest. Her column was published on Townhall.com.

Summary: One paragraph narrative.

Quote:

Narrative 25 words.

My Views: Main body. May be several paragraphs.

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Anybody who is as hated as Ann Coulter is must be doing something right. She is very right-wing but every left-wing blogger would love to write like her. I hate rants; opinion pieces must argue from the facts. Pay attention to how she uses facts and draws politically incorrect connections among them. People would do well to think and not just be outraged.

Here's her Wiki bio. Her latest book is at the right.

Will Template

cc by 2.0 from Wikipedia
photo by Scott Ableman

My take on George Will's latest. His column was published [DATE} in the Washington Post.

Summary: One paragraph narrative.

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25 words.

Narrative: 
Brief description of what he wrote

My Views: Main body. May be several paragraphs.

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George Will almost didn't make it as a syndicated columnist. His style was considered too erudite for a general audience.

Whatever one thinks of his views, read his work for use of language and for how he marshals facts and uses logic.

Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is at the right.

Steyn Template

Headline
My take on Mark Steyn's latest. His column was published on his website.

Summary: One paragraph narrative.

Quote:

Narrative 25 words.

My Views: Main body. May be several paragraphs.

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Mark Steyn is a syndicated columnist from Canada. Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is on the right. This is the book that got several Human Rights Commissions in Canada hot and bothered. With free speech under unprecedented attack, Mark Steyn managed to pull out a badly needed victory. This was the first time a Canadian Human Rights Commission found a defendant innocent.

Columnists

The above is my preferred format for columnists. Use small picture with left align. Title is last name and date. Headline just below.

My preferred columnists: Mark Steyn, George Will, Ann Coulter, Charles Krauthammer, Michael Barone.
I like the idea of showing their latest book, too - via Amazon. Note that all Amazon has to contain FLOAT: right;. No "" marks are necessary. Put after style command.

Novak 7/29/08

McCain Is Closer Than He Should Be


My take on Robert Novak's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

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Summary: Obama’s campaign has been brilliant while McCain’s has been lackluster. Yet Obama is only a few points ahead. Despite the electioneering aspects of Obama’s campaign, the substantive aspects hinder him. Can McCain back into the general election the way he backed into the Republican nomination?

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The toughest interrogation of Obama came from CBS anchor Katie Couric in Jordan last Tuesday. She asked four times whether the troop surge he had opposed was instrumental in reducing violence in Iraq. Obama answered straight from talking points by citing "the great effort of our young men and women in uniform." That sounded like the old politics. He would have sounded more like a new politician if he had simply said, "Yes, the strategy did work." That would have infuriated antiwar activists but not enough for them to drop Obama.

My Views: Obama doesn’t bug me so much as the obvious media bias. This also occurred in the Clinton campaigns. While the press did give him a hard time, too, that was not in 1992 or 1996. In the run-up to the elections, they always seem to give the Democrat candidates an easy ride.

None of this can explain why Republicans have such a hard time getting their act together.

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Robert Novak has covered Washington for over 50 years. Here's his Wiki bio.

Novak 7/28/08

Amazon's will have to be on the right until I can figure out how to do text margins.

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These are professional pundits who usually say things that are significant. Robert Novak’s policy is to have something nobody knows in each column. In his memoir at the right he writes of the 50 years he’s covered the news in Washington.

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McCain Is Closer Than He Should Be

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Summary: Obama’s campaign has been brilliant while McCain’s has been lackluster. Yet Obama is only a few points ahead. Despite the electioneering aspects of Obama’s campaign, the substantive aspects hinder him. Can McCain back into the general election the way he backed into the Republican nomination?

Quote:

The toughest interrogation of Obama came from CBS anchor Katie Couric in Jordan last Tuesday. She asked four times whether the troop surge he had opposed was instrumental in reducing violence in Iraq. Obama answered straight from talking points by citing "the great effort of our young men and women in uniform." That sounded like the old politics. He would have sounded more like a new politician if he had simply said, "Yes, the strategy did work." That would have infuriated antiwar activists but not enough for them to drop Obama.

My Views: Obama doesn’t bug me so much as the obvious media bias. This also occurred in the Clinton campaigns. While the press did give him a hard time, too, that was not in 1992 or 1996. In the run-up to the elections, they always seem to give the Democrat candidates an easy ride.

None of this can explain why Republicans have such a hard time getting their act together.

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Here’s Novak’s essay.

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Disclaimer: The book pictured is Novak's memoir. This gives you a picture of the book, of him, and an idea of what it costs. The fact that I will be compensated if you click on the link and buy the book turns this post into a semi-advertisement. I only will link to Amazon.com for books I actually liked.

Don't Overlook This! 7/15/08

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Summary: Narrative.

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Source: The American Spectator.

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Why this is significant: Narrative

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"Don't Overlook This!" are stories in the news that deserve more attention than they’ve received. These stories should have been the leading news items of their day. Their significance extends beyond just a particular geographical area and beyond just a particular news cycle.

HTML Commands

Page for lists
http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/lists.html#h-10.4

Table of Contents
http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/cover.html#minitoc

Setting Margins for Pictures

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Some people say that the USCF is loosing money and providing less service to members. We don't know that USCF will lose money this year, though it is possible. We are a very seasonal business, and a nine month loss which includes our four worst months does not prove there will be a twelve month loss.

Since its financial low point in the summer of 2003, USCF has shown a cumulative surplus of over $500,000.

As for "providing less to its members,"

In 2003, most tournaments took a month or more to rate. Today most are submitted online and are rated in less than a day.

In 2003, rating report errors had to be corrected manually and the office had a backlog of more than a year in making these corrections. Today not only are the corrections done quickly, but the opponents of the corrected players are also appropriately corrected.

Amazon Books Float

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I like his pithy introductions to each game. Here’s a few taken at random.

Game: Yates – Gunsberg, Chester, 1914

The time spent in effecting a pawn capture of doubtful value often allows the enemy pressure to become irrestible. This is the painful lesson to be learnt from the very beautiful game that follows.

Game: Alekhine – Euwe, World Championship Match, 1935

A most tense struggle, in which the interest never flags, in spite of one or two missed opportunities, due perhaps to the importance of the occasion.

Game: Lasker – Rubenstein, St. Petersburg, 1914

There are rook endings in which the advantage of one or two pawns is not sufficient to ensure victory. But here is an endgame, apparently simple and, after Black’s 58th. move, with equal material on each side, in which a seemingly unimportant feature turns the scale in White’s favor.

Game: Burn – Tarrasch, Ostend, 1907

After lengthy, consolidating maneuvers on either side, White succeeds in winning a well-merited pawn, after which Black’s resistance quickly collapses. On the whole, a game won in simple but eloquent fashion.

This looks much better on the right than on the left. This is from the 4/24/07 post.

Div Floats

This is a good time for me. I wonder how this is going to do this.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

Align picture

This is an example of a medium image that is right. Look for TEXT-ALIGN: right. Center does not seem to work.

For different sizes, picture must be loaded separately.

Big and Small Photos

Copied from 6/13/06

Tables

This is to test the use of tables in blogger.

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This was a test.