tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26680194177080258452024-03-13T06:55:44.699-07:00ChessCrowdChess, economics, investing, finance, business management, soccer, travel, poker, philanthropy, self-improvement, personal growth and development, and much moreChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-67426517032142131152014-03-17T17:52:00.001-07:002014-03-17T17:52:28.998-07:00Poverty<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Children are suffering. More than I can count.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For lack of clean water, or food, or vaccines to prevent hideous disease.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have a son, 3 years old, light of my life.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I couldn’t bear the same happen to him.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By random chance, one father was born here, and another there. The same except for place; connected. Were I the parent of the suffering child, what would I have my middle class double in America do?</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Continue streaming House of Cards, munching caramel popcorn and sipping Diet Coke?</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No, I would have him give: a care, a dollar, a voice. I would beg him to fly over with supplies, with compassion, to tackle these problems head-on, even at personal cost.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But as the middle class parent, I’m comfortable. With my movies, snacks, air conditioning, and recliner. What’s my incentive to act?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Am I to give up all my comforts, redirect all my efforts to solving these global problems, and encourage all I know to do the same? The moral answer, though it may be uncomfortable: yes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They talk of circles of influence: the wise pour their energy into that which they can control. While my circle may be limited, collectively, we have the power to team up to achieve results undreamed of</span>.</div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm no criminal: the law protects my decision to buy a $5 latte instead of giving the money to charity. But I live with the consequences: guilty feelings that I don’t deserve good things while others suffer. I’m experiencing the disparity between the desire to help, and the reluctance to give up the comforts that have defined my life to date. Tell me, do you ever feel this way, too?</span></div>
ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-48200354037659432872014-03-17T17:39:00.000-07:002014-03-17T17:39:26.837-07:00Joy and Pain<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-965fd69d-d29e-408f-8e0c-c40709bf3661" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another airplane gone missing.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Crashed, or, as the news reports say, disintegrated.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The passengers exist no more.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Whole generations extinct: Mother holding daughter in 26A. Father in 26B. Doting grandparents in 26C and D.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No time to tell friends goodbye. Left on a trip and never returned.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What decent God could allow this?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What God worthy of our prayer would not step in and prevent?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This misery, this unnecessary suffering.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And yet this world has such promise.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone who has glimpsed the beauty of a sunrise or sunset can agree.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The colors more awe-inspiring than paintings from the great masters.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Or the joy of love, of finding one’s true match, that acceptance, willing to do anything.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Or altruism, that honest feeling in our hearts that inspires care about fellow humans.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">About causes greater than our own petty, personal dramas.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So what lesson am I to draw?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This saddened wanderer, torn between the beauty and promise of this world, and the all-too-frequent pain and suffering.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What lesson am I to draw?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell me God, speak to me and tell me true.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I feel so lost.</span></div>
ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-62201155797302964632012-07-01T16:04:00.003-07:002012-07-01T16:07:55.548-07:00Ideas for a new businessThere are many benefits of starting one's own business. For instance, one can set his own hours and work from home. With the right business, one can be mobile, working just as easily while vacationing in Paris as while in an office. Also, one's own business can create a passive stream of income, which can leverage one's time more powerfully than the traditional concept of working for an employer 40+ hours at the office.<br />
<br />
So, I'm thinking of starting a new business. Here are some ideas:<br />
<br />
Translation service (Mandarin Chinese to/from English)<br />
Researcher for hire<br />
Tutor<br />
Make beef jerky at home and sell it -- all sorts of flavors, very tasty!<br />
Write blog articles valuing businesses, companies, and stocks<br />
Website design<br />
Tax preparer<br />
Personal finance budget consultant<br />
<br />
Which of these ideas would you be most excited about? Do you have any improvements on the above?ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-1911150123187557072012-07-01T10:29:00.000-07:002012-07-01T10:29:19.068-07:00Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)Many of us want to make the world a better place. One way to do this is through ensuring we achieve the <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/" target="_blank">Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)</a> The goals are as follows:<br />
<br />
1) End extreme poverty and hunger<br />
2) Achieve universal primary education<br />
3) Promote gender equality and empower women<br />
4) Reduce child mortality<br />
5) Improve maternal health<br />
6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases<br />
7) Ensure environmental sustainability<br />
8) Develop a global partnership for development<br />
<br />
We live in a world of 7 billion people, but not everyone enjoys the same opportunities: some face extreme hardship. Families lack access to enough food or clean water; parents can't send their children to quality schools; women face discrimination, whether conspicuous or subtle, and major diseases are causing suffering in many parts of the world.<br />
<br />
Over the next week, I'm going to review the goals and develop an action plan on how I can help. I'll post my findings here. What key actions can we take to improve the experiences of the people in our world?ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-29427849372780948772012-07-01T07:15:00.003-07:002012-07-01T09:44:54.663-07:00What makes a great place to live?Here are some of my desired attributes:<br />
<br />
Easy commute<br />
Light traffic<br />
Enjoyable climate<br />
Access to amenities such as libraries, theatre, sports stadiums<br />
Public transportation<br />
Fit in with community - like-minded people<br />
Low crime - feels safe<br />
Natural beauty including mountains, rivers, lakes, and ocean <br />
<br />
If I could live anywhere in the world I might choose:<br />
<br />
Paris<br />
Bern or Zurich, Switzerland<br />
Hamburg<br />
Munich <br />
Shanghai<br />
Beijing<br />
Tokyo<br />
Hong Kong<br />
<br />
Where would you live, and why?ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-20747184648276601612012-07-01T06:54:00.002-07:002012-07-01T09:45:34.078-07:00Some of my favorite things<br />
Soccer<br />
Chess<br />
Investing<br />
Traveling<br />
Video Games<br />
Retiring Early<br />
Drinking Coffee<br />
Reading financial news<br />
Studying companies<br />
Reading interesting books<br />
Computing for science<br />
Learning new languages<br />
Playing tennis<br />
Making the world a better place<br />
And much more<br />
<br />
This blog will be a place to go into more depth about each of these topics.ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-45996178557280940852011-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:002011-02-10T19:20:27.135-08:00What's the best move?<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=eeeeee&dark=BF5C00&border=F5E39E&bordertext=0&headerbackground=E89E47&mtbackground=eeeeee&dark=00FF00&initialmove=87&pgndata=[Event "73rd Tata Steel GMA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2011.01.15"] [Round "1"] [White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [BlackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2810"] [ECO "B92"] [Opening "Sicilian"] [Variation "Najdorf, Opovcensky variation"] [WhiteFideId "14103320"] [BlackFideId "5000017"] [EventDate "2011.01.14"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. Nd5 Nbd7 11. Qd3 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nc5 13. Qd2 Nfe4 14. Qb4 a5 15. Qb5 Qc7 16. Qc4 Rac8 17. Rfd1 f5 18. c3 Qd8 19. Qb5 b6 20. Nd2 Nxd2 21. Bxd2 Bf6 22. Rab1 e4 23. b4 Nd7 24. Rb3 Be5 25. a3 Rf7 26. c4 axb4 27. axb4 Ra8 28. Bc3 Bxc3 29. Rxc3 Ra2 30. Re3 g6 31. Bf1 Qf6 32. Rde1 Kg7 33. R3e2 Ra3 34. Qc6 h5 35. Re3 Ra7 36. h3 h4 37. Rb3 Ra2 38. Rbe3 g5 39. R3e2 Ra7 40. Qc8 Ne5 41. Rc2 Rf8 42. Qe6 Qd8 43. c5 bxc5 44. bxc5 {What is Black’s best move? Check back tomorrow for the answer!}'/></object></div>ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-14863799240012914782011-02-04T08:04:00.000-08:002011-02-04T08:38:04.451-08:00The Game of the Century<iframe height='773' width='477' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net?am=l&d=3000&ss=36&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=_XNo&dcs=O8AB&bbcs=O8AB&bscs=b&hm=n&hcs=r4fT&bd=s&cbcs=YeiP&ctcs=$$$$&hd=c&md=j&tm=18&fhcs=$$$$&fhs=100p&fmcs=$$$$&fccs=v71$&hmcs=_XNo&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=18&hl=f&fh=773&fw=477&pe=744$zlax9RvmuCU4g_WarmTvZZu0Ko1BHAB0G3vltXexgXA4Cxgu3kHKu4TjQzyWQxf7LWm$5j$nDjQzxMrglMYVM73e1BHASUtGJ0d1BHAPyYuAp096y1BHA_e0G3vgYXGWar04UXFfjQzvHKj2D4SUDyVPoZXexeTODo_gTyTjQzxQXJvgXdf9pNmXX5HfIAY$wTjQzvHKj2xRmP16wilhKo4VZZmFRvix0ila2$vo8z28rw$7Ex3ZfL32jo$hojn05XfJeaDP1$zHgKjr02Gi7SlB4wf7sGi3jU2v78x0BIAfd06sBvoGz5j02Icf3Cx250$htD5Yx2702KBfcly7bL3ckDN0FzM0H$v9E1DspU0I$v9B75Ggz5T1$FpyFg6eP5904NgD18N2d$v9Gm71Gi6V22vgrBp0x7_fwf3m85vpJXuDfn3m8BvnxeP7f1azyfcgCV3b04NoDYkGz7L16lHa7WW37P16pIrvpJOfyv7to6pZg11vgrXx0FE7w2v7VfPsFfP76$wSqCV$zC7nD10Fzc$lYfLL75ho$MbfM$7sprwGjbn16HfYF5n0$McgrBk2c$xUbP0jQZwC$grzp0zRuDnj1ax5v8G6V5d$xWoD1poZwvT3mjc$M3uDLD1aByfcgCVb504Q2gRxe_fDtb0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-65609327646793611762011-02-04T07:04:00.000-08:002012-07-01T07:00:33.830-07:00My Top 5 Chess Sites1. <a href="http://www.chess.com/">Chess.com - Great for live or turn-based chess</a><br />
2. <a href="http://www.chessclub.com/">The Internet Chess Club (ICC) - Get Your Game On!</a><br />
3. <a href="http://www.chessbase.com/">Chessbase - Great for news and analysis of top tournaments</a><br />
4. <a href="http://www.chesscube.com/">Chesscube -- A strong alternative to the ICC</a><br />
5. <a href="http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/twic.html">The Week in Chess - Daily Chess News and Games</a><br />
<br />
What are your favorite chess sites? Leave a comment below!ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668019417708025845.post-23017248840259687682011-02-03T20:46:00.000-08:002011-02-03T20:46:26.914-08:00The launch of ChessCrowdWelcome to ChessCrowd, a site dedicated to all things chess, where we can analyze games, discuss our favorite books, learn new openings, find local tournaments, and much more. Your author is a United States Chess Federation (USCF) Expert with a 2100+ tournament rating; however, our site will be much more than just my views -- it will incorporate the shared knowledge of our community (yes, this means you!).ChessCrowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10389262512323765615noreply@blogger.com0