(Now on Twitter, at):

http://twitter.com/BerkeleyBrett

I usually participate in Chessgames.com from my own web-interface which also has other links of interest. You are welcome to use it, too, whenever you like: http://www.bbbbbb.org/ ("Six B's dot org") It will give you some sense of my Chess interests.

My non-clerical name is Brett, and I am writing from Berkeley, California. I play sometimes at the Berkeley Chess Club and San Francisco's wonderful Mechanics Institute Chess Club ( www.chessclub.org ) Favourite players: Paul Morphy ( www.paulmorphy.com ), Dr. Emanuel Lasker (Einstein's pal: http://www.geocities.com/siliconval... ), Jose Raul Capablanca (perhaps the greatest player in history: www.capablanca.net ).

You are also invited to visit one of the many websites I maintain (with several friends): http://www.100bestwebsites.org/ "The 100 best sites on the Web, all in one place!"

For those of you who have followed the recent U.S. Presidential Election, you might enjoy this "Timeline of U.S. Presidential Elections" that I have created. It shows electoral maps for all U.S. Presidential Elections all the way back to George Washington (it also include pictures of all the candidates, with lots of relevant links):

http://www.ElectoralMaps.org/

As far as my spiritual faith and affiliation: I believe the primary purpose of human life is the pursuit of Wisdom and Compassion. Ideally, this is manifested (among other ways) as a vigorous pursuit of the highest well-being of ones fellow human beings (and other living creatures, too.) It's a rather simple faith, but it is a great challenge as well!

I also have a plan to erase poverty from the earth -- permanently and entirely. This plan has received much positive feedback. Implementing it will be a challenge, but I believe that it (or something very much like it) will happen:

http://www.foreverfunds.org/

FAQs: A few answers to a few frequently asked questions...

< 1) Are you a real Bishop? >

Yes, I am indeed a real Bishop, though no earthly religious denomination has yet realized this fact. I expect they will soon. Denominationally, I am a seculo-humanist-vedantan-freethinko-judeo-christ- io-buddho-lacto-vegetarian Bishop. Lest there should be any confusion, I am not a Roman Catholic Bishop, though I am fond of pretending to know a good deal more Latin that I actually do (ceteris paribus). (I recently placed a few images of the mysteriously beautiful "Eyes of Bodhnath" in the public domain; you might find them worth viewing or downloading: http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/... )

< 2) Wasn't there a "real" Bishop Berkeley? >

The question should be, "Wasn't there *another* real Bishop Berkeley?", and the answer is YES. He was one of the trio of British Empiricist philosophers that one often reads about: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. You may read more about him here:

http://www.iep.utm.edu/berkeley/

< 3) What does "Nihil obstat" mean? >

"Nihil obstat" is from the Latin for "nothing objectionable". I invoke the "Nihil obstat" when I am speaking "Ex Cathedra" (from the Bishop's Throne) on matters of particular significance. Messages bearing this reverend inscription may safely be quoted as official Theologico-Philosophic Communications with all due Magisterium Ecclesiaticum. Here is an Image of a Throne very similiar to the one on which I am seated when invoking the "Nihil obstat":

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/...

Well, OK, mine is a little different from this one. I got mine on sale at Office Depot awhile back during their Summer Throne Clearance sale:

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/...

You can adjust the height very nicely, and you can spin around in it when no one else is in the room! It was a good deal, I think. It does have many obvious similarities to the first Throne. (And that one is a total dud when it comes to spinning around.)

< 4) What is your "Quaker Chess Setup" all about? >

click for larger view

Well, it was developed as a musing on what alternate setup of *all* the pieces would give Black closest to even odds with White. It can be a fun handicap position: the stronger player plays black, and these two additional rules are observed - Black loses if: 1) S/he does not make a capture within the first 20 moves, 2) a "traditional draw" results at any time. You may learn more about this curious setup here:

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/quak...

< 5) Is it true that you've done readings of recorded books? >

Yes, though not for compensation. "Audiobooks", as they are called, are wonderful since you can listen to them while doing other things. They are a great supplement to traditional books. A few of my readings have been converted to MP3 format and are being shared (with my blessing) with whosoever wishes to have them. Here are two samples which may be downloaded and shared from these links:

[A remarkable passage from William James' classic work, "The Varieties of Religious Experience"]:

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/...

[The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America]:

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/audio/

If you like audiobooks, here is a large collection of free, public-domain audiobooks read by volunteers which may be downloaded and shared. Quite a remarkable project!

http://librivox.org/

And here's a free, public-domain classical music collection!

http://www.musopen.com/

And here's an excellent collection of links to outstanding free software!

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/

< 6) What are your political views? >

You may read a mini-essay I've written at the following site. It should give you a basic idea of my political philosophy:

http://www.aTheoryOfJustice.org/

< 7) Just how old are you these days? >

Well, it changes from day to day (so check back for updates!), but at the time of this writing (April 2010), I am 48 years old.

< 8) Is that really your telephone number? >

[Probably a question in reference to the telephone number (510) 558-9567 in the U.S.] Well, it is one of my telephone numbers. If I'm next to that phone when it rings, I'll pick it up (as a rule). But I'm not around that phone all that often. However, it is equipped to take messages, and I do check it most days, so you could use it to contact me if you wish to. (Though please forgive me, it sometimes takes me awhile to return calls. The life of a Bishop is rather busy, you know.)

< 9) Is it true that you sometimes drone on and on about a great many things without weaving your remarks into a coherent whole? >

Totally false. (Hey, who put this question in here?!)

< 10) Is it true that Batgirl's Blog is the best Chess-related blog on the planet? >

Well, you may be the judge of that yourself! It's certainly the one I visit most often (about once a week.) (It is maintained by the justly-admired Sarah Beth) I think it is a veritable cornucopia of Chess:

http://www.chess.com/blog/member/ba...

< 11) Is HappySlip your favourite web-comedienne? >

She is indeed. And not mine only, but the favourite of many (though this has nothing to do with Chess):

http://www.youtube.com/user/HappySlip

Natalie Tran of CommunityChannel is also quite wonderful, methinks. I believe she is the most popular "YouTuber" in her home country, Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/user/communi...

< 12) Can I send you an email message? >

You can and you may (perhaps!) It would be nice to hear from you! Here's my current "pointer" email address:

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/...

Please simply put "Bishop Berkeley" as the first words of the "subject" line, so I can distinguish it from the gradually building tide of spam. If I receive your message, I will do my best to reply in a reasonable period of time. If you do not hear from me shortly thereafter, I may not have received your message, for one reason or another. Sorry for the incovenience! I generally return responses to all personal email I receive, (though I do get behind sometimes, alas!)

=== end of FAQs ===

Incidentally, I am a vegetarian: a lacto-vegetarian, to be specific. You might enjoy this collection of vegetarian links. Indeed, you might find a healthy vegetarian restaurant near you using one of the restaurant guides listed here:

http://www.veggielinks.org/

You might also enjoy this wonderful, extensive collection of low-fat vegetarian recipes!

http://www.fatfree.com/

Thank you for visiting! Be well & go in good spirits, whosoe'er you may be!

(: ♗ BishopBerkeley ♗ :)

P.S. If you would like to review/download some pretty wonderful free Chess e-books and other tools, please consider visiting:

http://www.chessville.com/downloads...

P.S.(2) If you would like to try a very strong FREE Chess program that's quick-to-download & easy-to-install-and-run, with a recent rating of 2578 (WBEC, Oct 2005: http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/rati... ), as well as many configuration options & analysis capabilities, I heartily recommend "Slow Chess Blitz":

http://www.3dkingdoms.com/chess/slo...

P.S.(3) Sarah Beth's Chess Blog is a once-a-week stop of mine. She provides an evolving cornucopia of high quality material on Chess History and other Chess-related matters. It's definitely worth a bookmark:

http://www.chess.com/blog/member/ba...

Sarah is our fellow Chessgames.com member <SBC>, and you can find links to her other fine Chess sites in her profile:

User: SBC

Or, you can share her websites conveniently in coversation with your Chess friends by providing these three easy-to-remember web addresses (URLs):

"paulmorphy.com" http://www.paulmorphy.com/

"paulmorphy.net" http://www.paulmorphy.net/

"paulmorphy.org" http://www.paulmorphy.org/

(Though I am the holder of these three pointer URLs, I am not officially affiliated with Sarah's websites (except as an admirer of them.))

P.S.(4) If you have not read Scott McCloud's excellent online "graphic novelette" (cartoon), "My Obsession with Chess", I encourage you to do so! (Note: there are TWO pages to it, the link to page 2 is at the end of page 1 in the lower right corner):

http://www.scottmccloud.com/1-webco...