I write a blog for E San Joaquin. Or I used too.

Back in December our print subscription to the local newspaper came up for renewal. The price was quite steep and we decided that on line access is enough. As you might imagine, my view of the reporting slant of the press is not always favorable, and I decided to have a little fun with the changes at the paper.

To my surprise, my blog was censored and removed. The Editor was nice enough to call me and tell me first. Then he sent me an e mail calling what I wrote ‘a rant’ and suggesting I get my own blog not affiliated with the paper.

I published a few more tame posts on E San Joaquin. I also wrote a couple of most excellent pieces that I decided not to publish because I was pretty sure they would be removed. So I finally decided to go out on my own. If any of my 10 readers (including Stoker, who has little choice) follow me I will be grateful. But if not at least I can write without concerning myself that the censors are looking over my shoulder.

Here is the post that was removed. Decide for yourself if it constitutes a ‘rant’.

Over the years The Record has changed its name, its owners and its format several times. The current iteration is USA Today. Every time I open my paper I feel like I’m drinking coffee in the lobby of a Holiday Inn Express.

Another change coming soon: the paper is going to hire a Social Justice Reporter. With a job title like that, I’m sure we can look for some completely objective reporting under her/his byline.

All these improvements do not come cheap. The cost of a print subscription has been going up almost as fast as my unsubsidized Covered California Health Insurance.

When I saw the most recent renewal rate, I started to think about how I read the paper these days. First I scan the headlines. “Trump bad, Biden good”. So much for political news. Then a feel good community story, or a somebody done an innocent person in the community wrong story. Community is such a colorful word, with such diverse meanings.

On to Covid: don’t do this, don’t go there, stay home. Doesn’t take long to get the gist of the content.

Then I read the first paragraph (sometimes only the first sentence) of all the editorials. More ‘Trump bad, Biden good’. On to Sports. With all the games cancelled and fans banished, and social justice messages in the NFL end zones and on the sidelines (a story idea for the new reporter) it just doesn’t excite me. The business section gets a quick glance in case there might be some useful personal finance tips there (almost never).

This all takes me about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on who is writing the editorials. Now it is on to the most important part of the paper: the crossword puzzle. I fold it up and put it aside for the best part of the day. The rest goes into the trash.

I’m not particularity good at crosswords. So it takes me some time to get through them, if I can at all. I usually pour Stoker and me a vodka after 5 pm, turn on the local news (vodka helps) and have at it.

Stoker has been using the electronic version of The Record for years. After I saw the latest price hike I went on line and found out that we could get 1 whole year of unlimited access, including a digital replication of the printed paper, for $25/year. That is less than what I was tipping our carrier every quarter! And I can print the crossword puzzle. So we are going digital.

I wish it were as easy to save money using an e-version of Covered California, but I’ll just have to tough it out until July. Medicare here I come!

If anyone ever asks me about my hobbies, I usually say “Cycling, Chess and Monogamy”. I’m really good at one of these, fair at another, and I’m a bad chess player.

But ‘bad’ is relative. I played in tournaments. I drew a game with a Life Master in Turlock many (too many) years ago. I finished in a three way tie for first in a B Section Tournament at UC Berkeley., ahead of 95 other players. My rating reached a peak of 1746. Former Record Columnist Mike Fitzgerald also played and he was rated well above that, which always irked me, just as his column did on numerous occasions. But I really miss him in the paper.

Now I play against my phone. There is a chess app that has 12 levels, and on Level 7 I kill it, but on Level 10 I win about 1 in 10 with a couple of draws thrown in.

High quality internet is relatively new to Brumby Road, but now we have a real in-home WiFi network and tablets to stream video, and I discovered there are a lot of YouTube Chess Channels. One of the most popular, and my favorite, is Agadmator’s Chess Channel. He picks a game and does commentary and analysis for anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. He will often say things like ‘White is OK here” or “Black is Better” or “White is Winning”. He is referring to one of the two chess sides.

But apparently YouTube has some AI Censors, or else there are some hypersensitive morons checking content. Look what happened last summer:

I heard about this at the time, but someone at the The Daily Mail in the UK just discovered it and decided to write about it.

Given all the frantic talk about systemic racism and a cancel culture looking for anything to jump on, I’m surprised chess has gone mostly unscathed. I mean, White moves first. Always. Is that fair? Shouldn’t the EEOC get involved?

You will actually hear the words “White is Better’ from chess commentators. But if I have the White pieces you are more likely to hear “Black is totally winning. White should resign” after only a few of my less than stellar moves.

When I lived in DC there was a game room in Georgetown that I could walk to. I played a guy one time, and as we were setting up the pieces he informed me he was going to be “the Black World Chess Champion”. He lost. White privilege no doubt. I apologize…