Cynique

For me, hands down, (pun intended) Bridge is my strategic game of choice.  I've been playing Bridge for 70+ years, dating back to my Freshman year at the University of Illinois, during the 1950s.  Back then. Bridge wasn't just a pass time, it  was what students stayed up all night in their dorms playing, or cut classes haunting  the Student Union lounges huddled around tables, deciding which suit to bid.  It was the favorite after dinner activity at Sorority and Fraternity houses, a fanaticism that jeopardized the scholastic standing of a whole lot of students, - included myself. 

So Bridge is my thing and when it comes to being a strategic game, there is no substitute for just plain old gut instinct and good judgement as opposed to  the crazy "cue bidding" compiled by so-called experts who have diluted the purity of the game. I've  been asked by people to teach them how to pay Bridge.  But i always refused the request, telling them I can't teach you Bridge. You learn by playing it. You have to have what is known as  "card sense". After all this time, I'm still learning the game. 

 Although complicated, Bridge is also simplistic. No bells and whistles, just  a 52 pack of cards to deal out to 4 people for whom nothing is more fulfilling than bidding and making a grand slam - unless it's throwing your cards across the table at your partner for making a stupid play! This is why down through the years Bridge clubs always topped my list of recreational activity.  But those days are gone, along with all my old buddies who have ascended to that big card table in the sky.

Bridge, itself, was dying out because it tended to be an "old people's game" but it is making a come back, and I go on line and play it every day with computerized robots.  And if ever anything cast doubt on the reliability of "Artificial Intelligence", it's the game of Bridge.  Robots make terrible Bridge players!  They lack human instinct and are unable to establish rapport  with their partner or to observe their opponents style of play  and sense whether a queen-ace finesse will work.

So my fascination with this game continues but, of course, the day will come when instead of bidding,  I will pass... 

@Pioneer1Too bad you don't practice what you preach, always stickin you nose in abstract conversations between Del and me,  and posing silly irrelevant questions that prove you aren't an abstract thinker. Get outta here. i don't know anybody who rambles and goes way off the subject any more than you, the consummate straw man. . The only i reason i came here was because i saw Rodney had posted.  i ordinarily bypass your posts unless somebody  interesting contributes. The comments i made were very relevant to what Rodney said after he neutralized  your  prosaic drivel that proved humans beings aren't getting smarter. . You're just afraid he might answer me, and leave you and your superficial  IQ agape. LOL

Hi, Rodney!   

On 1/19/2023 at 5:51 PM, Rodney campbell said:

Any person can fix societies problems and keep societies problems from interfering in their personal LIFE.

@Rodney campbellThat's what I do. That's why i've divorced the black race.  i stay under the radar and the only problems I encounter are those I voluntarily insert myself into. Of course I am also able to do this because, at my age, i have no obligations. But saving the world has never been my goal.  That's why your "philosphy" interests me.  What happen, happens.  

BTW, what is your take on the Akashic Records?

So did anybody see the green comet? i didn't.  i just hope the Returmpicans stop  playing games and extend America's debt line  so that government pension checks wouldn't be delayed.  

@nels Oh blah, blah, blah, ho-hum.   For somebody who thinks I'm easy to get a rise out of, your bloated  ass could hardly wait to come back here and deliver the trite little essay you stayed up nights composing.   You're so transparent.  It's obvious you're trying to save face and give the impression that you haven't been bamboozled by your puppet masters. You can't even figure out that I relish engaging in arguments with programmed right wing stiffs like you.  This doesn't get a rise out of me, I get a charge out of it. I now await the response you will be unable to resist giving.  I dare you to stfu. (How's that for the reverse psychology you are so inept at attempting?)  

One more thing. Your ego is astounding. You really think you should be taken seriously instead of ridiculed. Now kiss the ground you love and -  slither back under your rock. The other slimy slugs can hardly wait for your return so they can convene the donald tRump fan club meeting.  

@nelsHopefully you will slither back under the  rock  you seeped out from. EW! Nobody missed you because you never had anything of worth to say, only a bunch of links to right wing propaganda. Nor is it likely that this has changed. You're stuck in the inertia of your stupid delusions.  You and your kind have yet to make any positive impact on the country and are still the tight assed misguided jerks you've always been.  Typical right wing Republicans from the top down. 

Buh Bye, Loser.  Try tweaking your lackluster  resume and maybe your lies will get you  a job on Marjorie Tayler Green's staff, airing out her  funky draws.  

OK. i'm not an avid fan of Astrology.  but since everybody else ifs going off  on tangents creating their own scenarios, i will refer to the red comet in Game of Thrones, another great book of fiction!  Damned if it didn't portend disaster.  Those Night Walker were something else!    

@StefanSo what does all of have to do with  a green comet streaking across the sky during a national crises in 2023? being a bad omen.  The  bible's disapproval of spiritualism which you interpret to be astrology  impacts on no one other than Christians.  

i refer  you to Delano's post.   

49 minutes ago, ProfD said:

You have zero debt to the Black race.  As Shirley Caesar sang, No Charge.

 @ProfDYou never know, -  if reparations are not forthcoming. 

44 minutes ago, Delano said:

This is not true in quantum physics. The observation of an event changed the outcome. So in this area there is no objective reality.

@DelanoThat's an "explanation".  But it is comforting to know, that all we need do to this omen is to look away and it will "disintegrate".  Keep your eye on the sky!

Well as far as I'm concerned, referring to the Bible to debunk Astrology is ludicrous.  Nothing is more rife with signs and prophecies than the source  of the myth associated with the Star of Bethlehem, - the book of fables written hundreds of years ago by manipulative, power hungry men, translated by drunk monks, and given a make-over  by white western  civilization.

As for science, its observations and explanations are at least objective. 

Actually, when it comes  to what lies ahead for America, Astrology is just taking credit for what is obvious.  You really don't need a streaking green comet to foresee disaster for  a country where both  a present and former president are under investigation by the DOJ, their respective parties  mired in the muck of vindictiveness and at odds over which direction the nation should take as inflation looms on the horizon.

I just hope I don't get stuck with child support after divorcing the black race. 

6 hours ago, Rodney campbell said:

To Cynique's protector know this. A proper and thorough answer is very seldom going to be a short answer.

@Rodney campbellHow ironic that the person to whom you direct your words is my alter ego, the cynical side of the Cynique coin.  Me, myself and... I simply imagining what an onlooker might think, hoping to dispel any notion of my being a gullible ol lady.  

Seriously, we good, Babe.  I really enjoy reading what you have to  say.  I look forward to engaging with you again when  another profound subject comes up.  Meanwhile, I will continue to contemplate what you have put on my mind.  I really do think our paths crossed for a reason. That you appeared at just the right moment as TIME runs out on me.  "...tomorrow and tomorrow creeps at its petty pace". My temple is in reasonably good stature, all things considered, but like any ancient edifice, it could collapse at any time...     

I will be out scanning the skies looking for this rare phenomenon. I do, however, fear that it will not bode well for America.  Folks talk about white unity but the white Republicans and Democrats are gearing up for a clash between values that will shake this country to its foundation.  

To me, it's very clear that right wing Republicans are the villains in this confrontation.  This country has become a nation of self serving bigots and Democrats still think democracy is an ideal that is compatible with human nature. it is not.  (And black folks would be very comfortable with being in a position to practice racism against Whites.) 

@Rodney campbellWhew! Thanks for what I can only describe as enlightening me.  For one of the rare times in my life, i don't have the compulsion to question or challenge the assertions of an "ideologue". You have inspired me to have an open mind. There's nothing you have expressed that provokes my skepticism because everything you say is plausible.  And, above, all, you do not pat yourself on the back or claim to be a font of wisdom.  You  are. indeed. a "messenger" who doesn't wallow in his opinions. Maybe even a Buddha.  I also feel that you have been sent to me  at this late stage of my life to awaken me -  a voice from cyber space deconstructing  the nature of reality. Lately there have been so many signs that have appeared to me, confirming  my suspicions, entities that can only be described as being outre in their origin. Whatever. Your  post was like a condensation of a modern day bible, filtered through the lens of modern day linguistics minus all the fables and sermons and geneology that bible thumpers muddle through.  A manual for survival.

i do not discount, however, that others will think that I am under the thrall of a  loquacious con man, plugging his books.  And although i accept the "possibility"  that the Creator has fine-tined everything into a "Cosmological Constant" and that there are no coincidences, still I wonder with the mind i was given, why there is so little justice in this world and why senseless tragedy and hardship devastate so many while others thrive, enjoying carefree existences. And you never broached  the elephant in the room. KARMA.  

Thanks also for reassuring me that i am the girl i used to be. 

@Rodney campbell i find what you say, mind boggling and fascinating.  And best of all because you write with clarity and put things in context,  I actually understand what you are expounding on to a certain degree and your challenges to conventional wisdom make sense.  To me, what you claim also has an element of ZEN in it, a discipline  that has always resonated with me. Still there is just so much that's unfamiliar to the human mind set and, as you imply, mere mortals have to re-think what they've always assumed to be, and realize that truth and reality are profoundly elusive. 

One thing I really want to know is if there are others,  like a secret cabal of Earthlings or a  hierarchy  of Aliens who assess time the same way you do  and who are at work manipulating Society in order to enslave the masses. Or - is what's going on just the random way Civilization has evolved and Life is simply "doing what it do" for no rhyme nor reason????  

Your postulations are particularly relevant to me because I'm trying to sort it all out before I depart this world. I spend a lot of time reminiscing about the "past" andIi now wonder where memories fit into your scheme of things.  I am no longer the girl i used to be so maybe age really isn't just a number...

And the mystery continues.   It is, what it is.

Bottom line is that people should learn to be good company for themselves. Then they can alternate between the stimulation of escapism and the tranquility of solitude.   Easy for an old relic like me to  say, because I didn't spend  my formative years plugged into the outlet of an electronic social life.  But to younger people  this dynamic has  become a way of life and Meta will be FaceBook on Steroids  = which translates into "success".

12 hours ago, KENNETH said:

I married a sista who had two small children and we had two more together. Working in different jobs often low paid service positions and a couple of professional jobs making ends meet and having a family quickly pushed aside protest activism. 

@KENNETH Was journalism your original field?  You are an excellent writer; a concise critical thinker 

@DelanoI  am very curious, myself, and I like to know stuff, too, so I am also constantly looking things up.  But numbers are not my liaison between questions and answers. To me concocted number codes are like bumps on the road to information.

17 hours ago, Troy said:

Not to take sides but that was a funny photo. Not that pioneer’s are not funny too, but i just did not expect that from Cynique 

 

@Troy That funny picture was copied from another post ( "Day 2--Still No House Speaker in Congress") and was originally posted by pioneer, - taken from his "portfolio". 

3 hours ago, Delano said:

If it is extra terrestrial and clearing the way then ipso facto it is divine.

Yes, I guess so  if what's divine originates in the heavens.

3 hours ago, Delano said:

Recently I've been having more chats with Astrologers. The last couple are big thinkers an have said some cutting edge stuff. One of them is having a hard time understanding that I create charts from words to either understand the word more fully, or I use them with clients to answer their concerns.

Well, looks like I'm in good company when it comes to not fully comprehending your fixation on numbers as they apply to word definitions.  You should call yourself an etymologist instead of an astrologist. Are your clients on your wave length?  You must be great at working crossword puzzles. 

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

..is that the best you can do?

Well, it's not like a dufus like you commands anything better.  I stooped to your level.  Now run along like a good little straw man - and steer clear of lit matches.

Is this speech by Booker T. Washington the one that motivated President Theodore Roosevelt to invite him to the White House?  Didn't  W.E.B. Du Bois the other famous black spokesman of that era oppose many of the stances Booker T. Washington took on race. Some historians have compared the relationship between the radical Du Bois and the moderate Washington to the one between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.  

15 hours ago, KENNETH said:

Troy sorry I didn't get back to you earlier.  I am 54 years old.  I'm a factory worker. In college and as a young adult I was involved in activism and protest for racial and social justice. 

@KENNETHwhat an interesting resume. Did you get disillusioned by the confinement of college and the chaos of activism, and now prefer to immerser yourself in the ranks of the proletariat?  Or do you supervise the labor force, something your past experiences qualified you to do?  

@DelOK, Pesonal Guru, I'll add you to my entourage which also includes a spiritual guide who gives every indication of being  a guardian angel or guardian alien.  i can decide whether this presence that  clears the way for me is divine or extra-terrestrial.  Maybe time will tell, if - you don't. 

16 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Who said we ever accepted your behind to begin with?????

 @Pioneer1Hummm.  i just noticed this latest example of everybody's favorite strawman making irrelevant false equivalencies, -  as usual. But at least you didn't accompany your conundrum with another picture of yourself in drag, babbling away. Although i must admit your female alter-ago really captures your essence; especially when it comes to babbling. (Tyler Perry/Medea would be proud of you.) Your duality does your afro-americoon image great justice. Taking on a female persona becomes you. And i will give you your props by reposting your picture. 

                                                                          pioneer showing his true colors 

@ProfD Thanks for setting me straight.  I'm impressed with both you and Hakeem. He's a cool dude.

@DelanoWell, with me, it's simply a case of it being Monday, and before I realize it, in the course of doing very little but lounging around, it's the weekend!  There was a time when I couldn't wait for Friday to come, now it's here before I even have time to plan for it  With everything, it seems like it was just a minute ago that I  did something routine, and it's time for me to do it again. Even with my monthly pension, every time I look up I'm getting another direct deposit into my bank account. 

Btw, did we ever decide whether or not time exists?  And - what's the outlook for 2023? Is it worth stickiin around for??? A friend of mine told me it's the year of the rabbit.  Is that a good sign?? 

If i win the billion dollar Mega Jackpot, I'll hire you to be my personal guru.