I've invented, or maybe just reinvented, a new kind of chess problem that is (I hope) immune to being solved by chess engines. It involves one or both sides having two kings!
Other than that, all the other rules of the game stay the same, so these problems still feel like normal chess problems. They just involve these two extra rules dealing with the new situations that can arise when you have two kings:
- The only way to checkmate a player is to checkmate both kings simultaneously.
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This is a list of all the biggest petitions I can find related to saving the Post Office from GOP attacks that Donald Trump recently admitted (in another of those classic blurts that must make his team cringe) are intended specifically to suppress the November 2020 vote.
Please sign them all, and let me know if I missed any.
Another good idea I've seen passed around is to directly support the USPS by buying stamps.… [more]
In the course of the protests sweeping our nation, police in many cities transformed potentially incendiary standoffs into powerful visions of unity and hope by kneeling, marching, and mourning with the protesters they swear to serve and protect. Not all of them maintained that stance, but many did. I've written this anthem to celebrate the moments they created. It can be sung to the tune of our national anthem.… [more]
A favorite post-election activity in America is for the supporters of the loser to claim that the election was rigged. Unfortunately, many of them are not very good at it. As a public service, I've created this guide to proving Election Fraud.… [more]
If anyone's confused by Trump's behavior in the face of the Coronavirus threat, here are the three keys for understanding anything he does:
- He only ever acts in his own interest.
- He's too dumb to think in terms of his long-term interest.
- Even when his handlers manage to convey something of long-term importance to him, he lacks the impulse control to consistently act on it.
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I'm writing this on the second day of the impeachment trial in the Senate. I haven't even checked on today's impeachment news yet, and I have no idea how the trial will end. (Actually, it's pretty clear what the verdict of the GOP-controlled jury will be, but what we don't know is how it will play out and how it will affect public opinion.)… [more]
A long time ago, in an age of craftsmanship that seems far, far away, a trilogy of movies blazed into existence like a hypergiant star, burning briefly bright and then hinting all too soon at its own eventual demise.
A poem I wrote 30 years ago, in the days following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Coverage
Oakland, October 17-19, 1989… [more]
It's Election Day 2018, and I'm seeing it again: social media posts by ultra progressive friends celebrating Democratic victories as evidence of the imminent Revolution and decrying Republican victories as the result of voter suppression or voting machine shenanigans. Underlying these responses is the idea that the vast majority of Americans are really progressive at heart, and the only thing that's stopping their Voice from being heard is a corrupt Establishment whose overthrow would result in all the people celebrating their newfound freedom.… [more]
Brett Kavanaugh has just been appointed for life to the highest court in the land. I believe that the best Democratic (and democratic) response we can make is to retake the Senate that confirmed him.
