Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

AA:

STFU

You are learning...my son...

[iam416]

20. Nxf7 is fairly straightforward shit. Once you figure that move out, the rest of the game plays itself.

[AlabamAlum]

20. Nxf7 is fairly straightforward shit. Once you figure that move out, the rest of the game plays itself.

The game is rich in tactics. He sacs some material and Berg thought white's rook was pinned to the 1st rank to prevent Qd1 mate. And it was, except for RxN when Qd1+ is met with Re1+! And you lose the queen.

[iam416]

Duh. It’s an easy mistake for 1250 players.

[AlabamAlum]

Are you playing any, Talent? If so, what's your rating now.

[crashcourse]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZn0D_9VY8"]Mark Robinson addresses Greensboro City Council on gun show ban - YouTube[/ame]

outstanding

he makes a helluva an argument

I am the majority!

[iam416]

I haven't played in years. My rating is probably Wizard+150. There was a time when I put some work into understanding a few core opening and really trying to understand basic endgame play. And then letting my mediocre ability sort me through the middle. But right now I'd make one gaffe after another in the first 8 moves, play like a patzer on fetanyl in the middle and find a way to stalemate with a significant material advantage at the end.

In other words, I'm the UNL of chess.

[AlabamAlum]

Heh. We should play for cash.

[iam416]

I rather bet on UNL straight up against The Nick or that a Wild Hoss is straight.

[Dr. Strangelove]

On the Atlantic/Williamson stuff

I'm not sure what Goldberg thought he was hiring in the first place. Williamson's gone on the record numerous times that he thinks women who have abortions are guilty of murder and should themselves be executed. This was well known before he was hired. I have no idea if Williamson truly believes that or if he keeps saying it just to "drive libs crazy".

The Atlantic can hire/fire whomever they want, sure. Talent describes it as a wasteland of homogeneous Gentry Prog thought but they are more centrist than anything. Goldberg was a cheerleader for the Iraq War and was once an Israeli prison guard overseeing a Palestinian internment camp. David Frum is a Senior Editor for God's sake. I can tell you that if you read anything real progs like Glenn Greenwald write, those two are absolutely despised. There's nothing "Progressive" about either and they are two of the most powerful people at that magazine, if not THE most powerful.

Talent- If The Atlantic were more upfront about it being a liberal/centrist magazine, would you be more okay with this purge? Surely there's a greater variety of political voices than, say, The National Review. So the only distinction I can see between the Atlantic and NR is that NR is more honestly "we are here to argue for a particular political cause".

[hack]

The Atlantic is a ridiculous one to pick on, and a supposed centrist should know that. If you looked at the big-time names associated with the magazine over the years, there are more conservatives than liberals. Even Goldberg, as a Democrat, produces significantly right-of-center work on his main beat, which is Israel. Hasn't budged an inch since what he thought in the 90s, despite a thing or two having happened since then.

But you're right that the real take here is WTF did Goldberg expect hiring a guy who says that shit. Williamson either lacks judgement, intellect or shame, but the real problem is Goldberg, who could not identify what makes for an appropriate hire.

[iam416]

On the Atlantic/Williamson stuff

I'm not sure what Goldberg thought he was hiring in the first place. Williamson's gone on the record numerous times that he thinks women who have abortions are guilty of murder and should themselves be executed. This was well known before he was hired. I have no idea if Williamson truly believes that or if he keeps saying it just to "drive libs crazy".

The Atlantic can hire/fire whomever they want, sure. Talent describes it as a wasteland of homogeneous Gentry Prog thought but they are more centrist than anything. Goldberg was a cheerleader for the Iraq War and was once an Israeli prison guard overseeing a Palestinian internment camp. David Frum is a Senior Editor for God's sake. I can tell you that if you read anything real progs like Glenn Greenwald write, those two are absolutely despised. There's nothing "Progressive" about either and they are two of the most powerful people at that magazine, if not THE most powerful.

Talent- If The Atlantic were more upfront about it being a liberal/centrist magazine, would you be more okay with this purge? Surely there's a greater variety of political voices than, say, The National Review. So the only distinction I can see between the Atlantic and NR is that NR is more honestly "we are here to argue for a particular political cause".

Yeah, I mean the NRO doesn't say "of no party nor clique" or whatever it's supposed to be. The point I repeated was that The Atlantic showed its ass. Whatever it once was is great and all, but we all know what it is today and will be tomorrow. Pretending The Atlantic is a centrist magazine today has all the intellectual honesty of pretending the Ds are still the party of Bill Clinton because they were in the 1990s.

I don't have a problem with The Atlantic catering to its audience. It doesn't have a problem publishing controversial opinions (see, e.g., Coates), nor does it have a problem hosting radical authors like Valenti, who is on record as affirmatively arguing for no restrictions at all on abortions. Those folks are #GentryProgs. Abortion, of course, is a #GentryProg sacred cow.

I think Williamson is a good writer and good voice. Others disagree. That's fine. I'm glad he'll be back at the NRO. He's not my favorite (your beloved David French probably has that role), but I'll always read him. French, of course, could never work at The Atlantic, either. Too christian. Too gunny.

The other thing I find just generally annoying is the social media gavedig looking for one or two tweets or comments to gin up the OUTRAGE MOB!!! That tactic knows no partisan nor professional nor any other boundaries. The OUTRAGE MOB went after Villanova's DiVicenzo for tweets he made when he was 14 -- he deleted his account. I find that whole practice loathsome. And I think it was absolutely at play in getting Williamson ousted. The Atlantic knew exactly what they were getting -- a great writer -- according to many, including Tahiti Coates, and a convervative voice. And then the OUTRAGE MOB took over.

YMMV.

[hack]

In addition to being a good writer you need to be a good thinker AND have good judgement. This isn't the NRO, where you're preaching to a crowd that isn't skeptical. Repeating what he repeated suggests that whatever you think of his prose, there are deficiencies that prevent him from being the right guy at that level.

Again, you fail to engage on a non-trolling level so I expect more bark than bite from any potential reply, but as long as people in positions of power do outrageous things, there are going to be outrage mobs. End of story.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Well, if you want to criticize the Atlantic for being hypocritical because they supposedly welcome all views but fired Williamson, have at it. I think you have a good case. NR is a lot more honest, I would have to say, in what they are trying to accomplish.

Where I disagree is that I don't think a magazine run by Goldberg and Frum is some sort of Far Left rag where everyone thinks alike in spite of their mission statement. I don't think think you're claiming those two are progs and i will reaffirm THEY ARE NOT. At least they definitely are not when it comes to foreign policy. I read a few Far Left people and both Goldberg and Frum are despised. The Atlantic is viewed (from the Left) as an Establishment DC magazine, even if a few Lefties like Coates are featured.

National Review it should be said has fired plenty of people for having views too out of line with the magazine's mission. John Derbyshire, who was cited frequently back in the good ol PNN days, got fired for insisting that science had proven blacks were intellectually inferior to white people. Christopher Buckley, the Founder's own son, was forced to resign after expressing support for Obama in 2008. A bunch of other writers were let go by them over the decades for being too 'embarrassing' to conservatives (usually for John Birch Society or white nationalist beliefs).

I dunno. I think you're right that if you're presenting yourself as a neutral publication you should present as many off-the-wall beliefs as possible. If the Atlantic wants to be honest about being a partisan publication then they are obligated to publish Williamson no more than NR is obligated to publish Coates. JMO

[iam416]

I agree with your opinion. If you’re comparing The Atlantic to the NRO then my point is made re that publication. As I said, the NRO’s slogan is most definitely not “of no party nor clique.”