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Les Golden

2013-04-12T13:41:07Z

CleteGolden:

{{Infobox_Person
| name = Les Golden
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Scooter (boyhood athlete)Clete (college baseball player)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian, cartoonist
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for rouletteInfluences -- Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| influences = Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| contact = drlesgo@aol.com; lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com; literary agent - elagencywest@aol.com
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden http://www.oocities.org/goldenforstaterepresentative
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, [[Illinois]].<ref> http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref><ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref><ref> http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenlesliem</ref><ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref> He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and [[Bluff Magazine|Bluff Europe]] print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]] and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]].

==Background==
===Education and Research===
[[File: LesGoldenCollectedWritings.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden]] Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea. He taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University,<ref name="Cornell">http://www.cornell65.com/interest/golden.html</ref> where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Technology and Marquis Who's Who in the World.

In addition to the many citations to his scholarly research in astronomy and the history of science, Golden’s writings and work has been cited in numerous books.<ref>see, for example, The Complete Guide to the Illinois Software Industry, Chicago Software Association; Cornell Engineer, Cornell University College of Engineering; Mix Hypermedia, Mix Publications; The Griffith Observer, Griffith Observatory; http://books.google.com/books?id=99oqAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&dq=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&hl=en</ref>

The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden (Duc Publishing, ISBN 978-6-1368-4994-2)<ref>www.renotransmission.com/installation.html</ref><ref>www.oakparkjournal.com/2012/2012-Book-announced-Golden-bio.html </ref><ref>www.topix.com/forum/games/blackjack/TM5R2SK854B8812DS</ref><ref>www.publishingheadlines.com/biography-of-les-golden-published-by-duc-publishing/</ref> which is available worldwide.<ref>See, for example, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-golden-jordan-naoum/1104425304; http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Jordan-Naoum/dp/6136849941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327941857&sr=1-1; http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9786136849942; http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx </ref>

===Performing===
[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref><ref>(2004) http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-Field-Park-ralley-July-8th-2pm.html</ref><ref>“Oak Park Environmentalist Persuades School to Save Taxpayer Dollars, Intergovernmental Cooperation the Key to Recycling Dutch Elm Mulch,” www.oakparkjournal.com/stories2004/2005-les-golden-mulch-nov.html</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>www.locatetv.com/person/les-golden/118760</ref><ref>http://www.reelz.com/person/146084/les-golden/movie-friends/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]]. With the arrival of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'', '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

He is a published jazz critic.<ref>Golden, Les (1994), “Ravinia places Chicago on map for jazz fans,” ''Northwest Leader'', August 3, p. 6</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the [[Eddie Hubbard]] Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He was one of the stable of gifted Chicago character actors cast in numerous national and regional television commercials by renowned director [[Josef Sedelmaier]] of “Where’s the Beef?” fame. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble. He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|Les Golden possesses a "great character face." Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

As an editorial and comic cartoonist, Les Golden has been widely published. He is listed in [[Comiclopedia]]<ref>http://lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm</ref>. His subjects are taken from his interest in politics and other careers as a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, environmentalist, animal welfare advocate, astronomer, and professor. He may be best known for his strip "Captain Industry" from the 1980's. His content ranges from politically controversial to school-boy silliness, with a clean line-art artistic style. His textbook, Laboratory Exercises in Physics for Modern Astronomy (Springer-Verlag, 2012), includes numerous of his comic illustrations, including those of possible extraterrestrials. He credits Betty Edwards, author of Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as his major artistic influence. [[File:LesGoldenCartoona.jpg|thumb|left|225px|As a cartoonist, Les Golden is widely published. Among other venues, he contributes cartoons to various gambling magazines. Copyright 2012 Les Golden. All rights reserved.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
[[File: LesGoldenNEAR.jpg|thumb|right|150px| Les Golden, astronomer, founded the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] while a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.]]Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics as an Adjunct Professor of Management Science in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1?detailsPage=authorsAndEditors</ref>

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px| Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref><ref> articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/astronomy/recent/4</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref> he presented a series of lectures to the renowned Field Museum of Natural History on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

==Renaissance Man Description==
Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath. [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px| Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine. "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school. You'd accuse us of making him up, right? Wait, it gets better. Let's say all of that is not enough. Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum. From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.]]

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden? Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on. You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn, Eric, "This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes. See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

“His interests form a list so long as to stagger the imagination. He is a stand-up comic who has performed all over the United States and Mexico, a professional actor in more than 100 plays, films and commercials; and he is the author of Basic Composer, PC-compatible software that is used to compose, play back, and print music and lyrics. (As an astronomer), in 1986 he went on a Halley’s Comet cruise, following the comet from Acapulco to Greece and transmitting reports to the Syndicated Writers’ Group.”<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man. His numerous activities have provided him with many names. Play the Les Golden Name Game! ]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

Les Golden has featured listings at Library Thing,<ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref> Illinois Authors, <ref>http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref> and Authors Den.<ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
[[File: LesGoldenUnitedAirlines.jpg|thumb|left|125px| International poster-boy for United Airlines. These brochures were available at every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world. An accompanying poster was on the wall in every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world as well as being printed in every major American newspaper (and perhaps foreign as well).]]In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>http://www.sbg-globalblackjack.com/p/blackjack-news-headlines-for-september-02-2011</ref><ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>(1995) Krapf, Paula, “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>(1998) Silver, Moe (name adopted by writer Ken Trainor for purpose of article), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref><ref name="Cornell"/><ref>http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__les_golden_28</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the [[normal curve]], and Gambler's ruin, and often employing [[Monte Carlo]] simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> [[File:LesGoldenasDrArmstrong.jpg‎|thumb|150px|Les Golden had the part of Dr. Armstrong in Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians." Golden is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref><ref>http://triblocal.com/members/dianenichols/mentions/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenAsteroidDiscovery.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The beginnings of the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] was the subject of an article in Compuserve Magazine, which also discussed his being a writer for the Syndicated Writers’ Group reporting as a Halley’s Comet lecturer on the high seas.]]Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize,<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref>, the Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition,<ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref>, the International Compuserve Magazine Essay Contest,<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref> and the First Prize in the [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] International Essay Competition (American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs). Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. ]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBlackjackArticle.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The June, 2011, paper in The Mathematical Scientist, a peer-reviewed British scholarly journal, established Prof. Les Golden as a recognized expert in the probability and statistics as well as strategy of the casino game of blackjack. ]]Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBook.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The bookseller flyer for Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy.]]The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.]]
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. He later formed the [[TURF Party]] (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

A major influence on animal welfare and environmental protection efforts locally and in the State of Illinois, Golden has been a leader in water and materials conservation, recycling, tree protection, wildlife protection, pesticide bans, efforts to retard global warming, and numerous other initiatives, as well as childhood education in these efforts. He has achieved numerous reforms in this regard as president of the [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. [[File: LesGoldenOakParkPesticideBan.jpg|thumb|left|175px|In 1991, Les Golden, as president of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment, achieved a ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation centers of Oak Park, Illinois.]]

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
[[File: LesGoldenTreeRally.jpg|thumb|right|150px|In 2007, Leslie M. Golden discovered the plan by the Oak Park Park District to destroy all the old growth trees in a local park. Within 48 hours, on the July 4th weekend, he organized a committee to hold a Sunday rally, wrote a flyer, had the flyer distributed throughout the community, obtained speakers, and notified the press. Over 200 people attended on the hottest day of the year.]]His political candidacies for U.S. Congress<ref>(1996) Kass, John, “Nothing dull about 7th race – U.S. House contest full of controversy,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 8, Section 2, p. 1</ref> and State Representative<ref>(1992) Zorn, Eric, “But Yakov seems so, so . . . judicial,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 10, Section 2, p. 1</ref><ref>(1996) Montgomery, Susan, “GOP slates Golden to run for state rep,” ''Oak Leaves'', July 3, p. 10</ref><ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16936&WhenStart=2011-08-06+12%3A51%3A32</ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref> using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref><ref>http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/09/should-we-use-cheryle-robinson-jackson-or-stick-with-cheryle-jackson-.html</ref><ref> (1996) Hevrkejs, Judy and Conklin, Mike, “Cutting Les,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 12, p. 2</ref><ref> (1996) “ ‘Cut the Taxes’ cut from GOP ballot,” ''West Suburban Post'', March 8, p. 5</ref><ref>http://forums.gunbroker.com/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=34426</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

[[File: LesGoldenCutTaxingDistricts.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As the GOP candidate for the office of State Representative from the 8th Illinois district, Golden suggested means for funding education.]]In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref><ref>http://www.chicagogop.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/drlesmgolden</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He has consistently fought legislation removing property tax caps in Illinois.<ref> (1995) Schory, Brenda, “Loud protest trails quiet passage of tax cap bill,” Kane County Chronicle, July 7, p. 1</ref> He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He is President of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) in Oak Park, Suburban Coordinator of the Alliance of (Cook) County Taxpayers (ACT), and heads the National Taxpayers United of Oak Park.

Golden received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==Published Books==
*''Basic Composer: An Analysis of Music Notation Software'', Music Education Incentives Publishers (1988)
*''Astronomy 101'', UIC Press (1994)
*''A Field Guide for Political Activists: How to Generate Support and Turn Out Your Voters'', Lee Brooke (2008)
*''Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles'', Springer Science+Business (2012)<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1</ref>

==Discography==
*''Deuces Wild'', The Deuces

==Selected Theatrical, Film, Radio, Television, and Commercial Credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Director
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Co-stars
|-
|Kronenbourgh Beer
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Murray
|Bruce Jarchow
|-
|Tony’s Pizza
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Vito
|
|-
|Chicago Tribune
|Jim Wotring
|Jo-jo
|Marji Bank, Ernest Perry
|-
|K-Mart
|Jim Wotring
|Lester
|Tim Gamble
|-
|Eagle Foods
|Gerald Hagner
|Les
|Ken Anderson (athlete)
|-
|Motorola Cellular
|Ed Italo
|Miller
|Lee Trevino (athlete)
|-
|Buick
|Jim Parish
|Cal
|Don Majowski (athlete)
|-
|True Value Hardware
|Jim Lynch
|Professor Astroray
|(one-person show)
|-
|Cognex
|Stewart Talent
|Timothy McCoy
|Paula Scrofano
|-
|Illinois State Lottery
|Jeff Jones
|Big Brother
|
|-
|Heinz Ketchup
|Bob Shallcross
|Les Golden (stand-up comedian as himself)
|
|-
|Bubble Up
|Stan Cottle
|Murray
|Charlotte Ross
|-
|The Len Petrulis Show
|Len Petrulis
|Phillipe Maurice, Parisian fashion designer
|Kajon Mueller
|-
|Freeman Shoes
|Loren Ostir
|Wally Tucker
|
|-
|Thrift Drugs
|Clay Covert
|Mr. Eisen
|(one-person show)
|-
|Madison Gas and Electric
|Bob Wendt
|Bob
|(one-person show)
|-
|Ohio Edison
|Ken Ancell
|Mr. Heater
|(one-person show)
|-
|American Family Insurance
|John Alexson
|Mark
|Rick Plastina
|-
|Outtakes
|Jack Sell
|Harvey Knox
|Broderick Crawford
|-
|The Nightmare Trial of Billy Barnes
|Gerald Rogers
|Edward Keppel
|
|-
|The Roommate
|Nell Cox
|Mr. Chipbeef
|Barry Miller, Lance Guest
|-
|Welcome Home, Bobby
|Herbert Wise
|Coach Lazare
|Adam Baldwin
|-
|How I Became A Holy Mother
|Arnold Aprill
|Master
|Patti Shaughnessy
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|Dale Calandra
|Gremio
|Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, and others
|-
|YMCA
|Jerold Haislmaier
|Michael Marks
|
|-
|Ten Little Indians
|Faith Dukor-Chaplick
|Dr. Armstrong
|June Atkinson, Russ Cady
|-
|Stage Struck
|James Carter
|Herman
|Jim Mullen
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Faith Baime
|Vinnie
|
|-
|What the Wine Sellers Buy
|Wanda Getsug
|George
|Lucy Evans
|-
|The Little Sister
|Ray Andrecheck
|Toad
|B.F. Helman
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|David Darlow
|Vincentio
|Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Kristine Thatcher, Greg Vinkler, Michael Halberstam, and others
|-
|The Inspector General
|Knowles Cooke
|Bobchinsky
|Stephen Straight, Barbara Tucker
|-
|Eddie Hubbard Show Live from Arnie’s
|Eddie Hubbard
|Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell
|Robert Goulet, and others
|-
|Unshackled!
|Jack O’Dell
|Richard Goldstein (and others)
|Judith Easton, David Mink, and others
|-
|Deadly Spygames
|Jack Sell
|General Vladimir Korchenko
|Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue
|-
|Lady Blue
|Gary Nelson
|Davey Carlton
|Danny Aiello, Jamie Rose, Ron Dean
|}

==Writing Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Competition
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Sponsor
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Award
|-
|Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize
|Eric Hoffer
|First Place Winner
|-
|Cornell Engineer Feature Article Competition
|Cornell University College of Engineering
|First Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, Second Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, All Issues, Second Place Winner
|-
|Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition
|Griffith Observatory
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|International Compuserve Magazine Essay Competition
|Compuserve Magazine
|First Place Winner
|-
|Nicolaus Copernicus International Essay Competition
|American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs
|First Place Winner, Senior Division
|-
|Tau Beta Pi Essay Competition
|Tau Beta Pi Association
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden_(Interview)] An Interview With Les Golden
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project] N.E.A.R.
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/University_of_California_Jazz_Ensembles] U.C. Jazz
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/KALX] KALX Radio 90.7 FM
*[http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden] Illinois Authors Listing
*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/laboratory-exercises-in-physics-for-modern-astronomy/oclc/773666079] World Catalog Listing
*[http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx] Collected Writings
*[http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden] Library Thing Listing
* [http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden] Authors Den Listing

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Theatre]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
[[Category:Betting systems]]
[[Category:Research]]
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Les Golden

2013-04-05T23:25:08Z

CleteGolden: /* Categories */

{{Infobox_Person
| name = Les Golden
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Scooter (boyhood athlete)Clete (college baseball player)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian, cartoonist
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for rouletteInfluences -- Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| influences = Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| contact = drlesgo@aol.com; lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com; literary agent - elagencywest@aol.com
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden http://www.oocities.org/goldenforstaterepresentative
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, [[Illinois]].<ref> http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref><ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref><ref> http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenlesliem</ref><ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref> He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and [[Bluff Magazine|Bluff Europe]] print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]] and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]].

==Background==
===Education and Research===
[[File: LesGoldenCollectedWritings.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden]] Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea. He taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University,<ref name="Cornell">http://www.cornell65.com/interest/golden.html</ref> where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Technology and Marquis Who's Who in the World.

In addition to the many citations to his scholarly research in astronomy and the history of science, Golden’s writings and work has been cited in numerous books.<ref>see, for example, The Complete Guide to the Illinois Software Industry, Chicago Software Association; Cornell Engineer, Cornell University College of Engineering; Mix Hypermedia, Mix Publications; The Griffith Observer, Griffith Observatory; http://books.google.com/books?id=99oqAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&dq=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&hl=en</ref>

The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden (Duc Publishing, ISBN 978-6-1368-4994-2)<ref>www.renotransmission.com/installation.html</ref><ref>www.oakparkjournal.com/2012/2012-Book-announced-Golden-bio.html </ref><ref>www.topix.com/forum/games/blackjack/TM5R2SK854B8812DS</ref><ref>www.publishingheadlines.com/biography-of-les-golden-published-by-duc-publishing/</ref> which is available worldwide.<ref>See, for example, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-golden-jordan-naoum/1104425304; http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Jordan-Naoum/dp/6136849941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327941857&sr=1-1; http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9786136849942; http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx </ref>

===Performing===
[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref><ref>(2004) http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-Field-Park-ralley-July-8th-2pm.html</ref><ref>“Oak Park Environmentalist Persuades School to Save Taxpayer Dollars, Intergovernmental Cooperation the Key to Recycling Dutch Elm Mulch,” www.oakparkjournal.com/stories2004/2005-les-golden-mulch-nov.html</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>www.locatetv.com/person/les-golden/118760</ref><ref>http://www.reelz.com/person/146084/les-golden/movie-friends/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]]. With the arrival of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'', '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

He is a published jazz critic.<ref>Golden, Les (1994), “Ravinia places Chicago on map for jazz fans,” ''Northwest Leader'', August 3, p. 6</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the [[Eddie Hubbard]] Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He was one of the stable of gifted Chicago character actors cast in numerous national and regional television commercials by renowned director [[Josef Sedelmaier]] of “Where’s the Beef?” fame. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble. He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|Les Golden possesses a "great character face." Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

As an editorial and comic cartoonist, Les Golden has been widely published. He is listed in [[Comiclopedia]]<ref>http://lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm</ref>. His subjects are taken from his interest in politics and other careers as a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, environmentalist, animal welfare advocate, astronomer, and professor. He may be best known for his strip "Captain Industry" from the 1980's. His content ranges from politically controversial to school-boy silliness, with a clean line-art artistic style. His textbook, Laboratory Exercises in Physics for Modern Astronomy (Springer-Verlag, 2012), includes numerous of his comic illustrations, including those of possible extraterrestrials. He credits Betty Edwards, author of Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as his major artistic influence. [[File:LesGoldenCartoona.jpg|thumb|left|225px|As a cartoonist, Les Golden is widely published. Among other venues, he contributes cartoons to various gambling magazines. Copyright 2012 Les Golden. All rights reserved.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
[[File: LesGoldenNEAR.jpg|thumb|right|150px| Les Golden, astronomer, founded the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] while a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.]]Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics as an Adjunct Professor of Management Science in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1?detailsPage=authorsAndEditors</ref>

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px| Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref><ref> articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/astronomy/recent/4</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref> he presented a series of lectures to the renowned Field Museum of Natural History on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

==Renaissance Man Description==
Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath. [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px| Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine. "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school. You'd accuse us of making him up, right? Wait, it gets better. Let's say all of that is not enough. Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum. From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.]]

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden? Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on. You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn, Eric, "This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes. See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

“His interests form a list so long as to stagger the imagination. He is a stand-up comic who has performed all over the United States and Mexico, a professional actor in more than 100 plays, films and commercials; and he is the author of Basic Composer, PC-compatible software that is used to compose, play back, and print music and lyrics. (As an astronomer), in 1986 he went on a Halley’s Comet cruise, following the comet from Acapulco to Greece and transmitting reports to the Syndicated Writers’ Group.”<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man. His numerous activities have provided him with many names. Play the Les Golden Name Game! ]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

Les Golden has featured listings at Library Thing,<ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref> Illinois Authors, <ref>http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref> and Authors Den.<ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
[[File: LesGoldenUnitedAirlines.jpg|thumb|left|125px| International poster-boy for United Airlines. These brochures were available at every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world. An accompanying poster was on the wall in every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world as well as being printed in every major American newspaper (and perhaps foreign as well).]]In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>http://www.sbg-globalblackjack.com/p/blackjack-news-headlines-for-september-02-2011</ref><ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>(1995) Krapf, Paula, “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>(1998) Silver, Moe (name adopted by writer Ken Trainor for purpose of article), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref><ref name="Cornell"/><ref>http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__les_golden_28</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the [[normal curve]], and Gambler's ruin, and often employing [[Monte Carlo]] simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> [[File:LesGoldenasDrArmstrong.jpg‎|thumb|150px|Les Golden had the part of Dr. Armstrong in Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians." Golden is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref><ref>http://triblocal.com/members/dianenichols/mentions/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenAsteroidDiscovery.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The beginnings of the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] was the subject of an article in Compuserve Magazine, which also discussed his being a writer for the Syndicated Writers’ Group reporting as a Halley’s Comet lecturer on the high seas.]]Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize,<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref>, the Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition,<ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref>, the International Compuserve Magazine Essay Contest,<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref> and the First Prize in the [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] International Essay Competition (American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs). Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. ]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBlackjackArticle.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The June, 2011, paper in The Mathematical Scientist, a peer-reviewed British scholarly journal, established Prof. Les Golden as a recognized expert in the probability and statistics as well as strategy of the casino game of blackjack. ]]Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBook.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The bookseller flyer for Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy.]]The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.]]
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. He later formed the [[TURF Party]] (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

A major influence on animal welfare and environmental protection efforts locally and in the State of Illinois, Golden has been a leader in water and materials conservation, recycling, tree protection, wildlife protection, pesticide bans, efforts to retard global warming, and numerous other initiatives, as well as childhood education in these efforts. He has achieved numerous reforms in this regard as president of the [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. [[File: LesGoldenOakParkPesticideBan.jpg|thumb|left|175px|In 1991, Les Golden, as president of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment, achieved a ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation centers of Oak Park, Illinois.]]

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
[[File: LesGoldenTreeRally.jpg|thumb|right|150px|In 2007, Leslie M. Golden discovered the plan by the Oak Park Park District to destroy all the old growth trees in a local park. Within 48 hours, on the July 4th weekend, he organized a committee to hold a Sunday rally, wrote a flyer, had the flyer distributed throughout the community, obtained speakers, and notified the press. Over 200 people attended on the hottest day of the year.]]His political candidacies for U.S. Congress<ref>(1996) Kass, John, “Nothing dull about 7th race – U.S. House contest full of controversy,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 8, Section 2, p. 1</ref> and State Representative<ref>(1992) Zorn, Eric, “But Yakov seems so, so . . . judicial,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 10, Section 2, p. 1</ref><ref>(1996) Montgomery, Susan, “GOP slates Golden to run for state rep,” ''Oak Leaves'', July 3, p. 10</ref><ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16936&WhenStart=2011-08-06+12%3A51%3A32</ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref> using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref><ref>http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/09/should-we-use-cheryle-robinson-jackson-or-stick-with-cheryle-jackson-.html</ref><ref> (1996) Hevrkejs, Judy and Conklin, Mike, “Cutting Les,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 12, p. 2</ref><ref> (1996) “ ‘Cut the Taxes’ cut from GOP ballot,” ''West Suburban Post'', March 8, p. 5</ref><ref>http://forums.gunbroker.com/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=34426</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

[[File: LesGoldenCutTaxingDistricts.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As the GOP candidate for the office of State Representative from the 8th Illinois district, Golden suggested means for funding education.]]In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref><ref>http://www.chicagogop.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/drlesmgolden</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He has consistently fought legislation removing property tax caps in Illinois.<ref> (1995) Schory, Brenda, “Loud protest trails quiet passage of tax cap bill,” Kane County Chronicle, July 7, p. 1</ref> He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He is President of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) in Oak Park, Suburban Coordinator of the Alliance of (Cook) County Taxpayers (ACT), and heads the National Taxpayers United of Oak Park.

Golden received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==Published Books==
*''Basic Composer: An Analysis of Music Notation Software'', Music Education Incentives Publishers (1988)
*''Astronomy 101'', UIC Press (1994)
*''A Field Guide for Political Activists: How to Generate Support and Turn Out Your Voters'', Lee Brooke (2008)
*''Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles'', Springer Science+Business (2012)<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1</ref>

==Selected Theatrical, Film, Radio, Television, and Commercial Credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Director
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Co-stars
|-
|Kronenbourgh Beer
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Murray
|Bruce Jarchow
|-
|Tony’s Pizza
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Vito
|
|-
|Chicago Tribune
|Jim Wotring
|Jo-jo
|Marji Bank, Ernest Perry
|-
|K-Mart
|Jim Wotring
|Lester
|Tim Gamble
|-
|Eagle Foods
|Gerald Hagner
|Les
|Ken Anderson (athlete)
|-
|Motorola Cellular
|Ed Italo
|Miller
|Lee Trevino (athlete)
|-
|Buick
|Jim Parish
|Cal
|Don Majowski (athlete)
|-
|True Value Hardware
|Jim Lynch
|Professor Astroray
|(one-person show)
|-
|Cognex
|Stewart Talent
|Timothy McCoy
|Paula Scrofano
|-
|Illinois State Lottery
|Jeff Jones
|Big Brother
|
|-
|Heinz Ketchup
|Bob Shallcross
|Les Golden (stand-up comedian as himself)
|
|-
|Bubble Up
|Stan Cottle
|Murray
|Charlotte Ross
|-
|The Len Petrulis Show
|Len Petrulis
|Phillipe Maurice, Parisian fashion designer
|Kajon Mueller
|-
|Freeman Shoes
|Loren Ostir
|Wally Tucker
|
|-
|Thrift Drugs
|Clay Covert
|Mr. Eisen
|(one-person show)
|-
|Madison Gas and Electric
|Bob Wendt
|Bob
|(one-person show)
|-
|Ohio Edison
|Ken Ancell
|Mr. Heater
|(one-person show)
|-
|American Family Insurance
|John Alexson
|Mark
|Rick Plastina
|-
|Outtakes
|Jack Sell
|Harvey Knox
|Broderick Crawford
|-
|The Nightmare Trial of Billy Barnes
|Gerald Rogers
|Edward Keppel
|
|-
|The Roommate
|Nell Cox
|Mr. Chipbeef
|Barry Miller, Lance Guest
|-
|Welcome Home, Bobby
|Herbert Wise
|Coach Lazare
|Adam Baldwin
|-
|How I Became A Holy Mother
|Arnold Aprill
|Master
|Patti Shaughnessy
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|Dale Calandra
|Gremio
|Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, and others
|-
|YMCA
|Jerold Haislmaier
|Michael Marks
|
|-
|Ten Little Indians
|Faith Dukor-Chaplick
|Dr. Armstrong
|June Atkinson, Russ Cady
|-
|Stage Struck
|James Carter
|Herman
|Jim Mullen
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Faith Baime
|Vinnie
|
|-
|What the Wine Sellers Buy
|Wanda Getsug
|George
|Lucy Evans
|-
|The Little Sister
|Ray Andrecheck
|Toad
|B.F. Helman
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|David Darlow
|Vincentio
|Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Kristine Thatcher, Greg Vinkler, Michael Halberstam, and others
|-
|The Inspector General
|Knowles Cooke
|Bobchinsky
|Stephen Straight, Barbara Tucker
|-
|Eddie Hubbard Show Live from Arnie’s
|Eddie Hubbard
|Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell
|Robert Goulet, and others
|-
|Unshackled!
|Jack O’Dell
|Richard Goldstein (and others)
|Judith Easton, David Mink, and others
|-
|Deadly Spygames
|Jack Sell
|General Vladimir Korchenko
|Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue
|-
|Lady Blue
|Gary Nelson
|Davey Carlton
|Danny Aiello, Jamie Rose, Ron Dean
|}

==Writing Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Competition
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Sponsor
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Award
|-
|Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize
|Eric Hoffer
|First Place Winner
|-
|Cornell Engineer Feature Article Competition
|Cornell University College of Engineering
|First Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, Second Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, All Issues, Second Place Winner
|-
|Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition
|Griffith Observatory
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|International Compuserve Magazine Essay Competition
|Compuserve Magazine
|First Place Winner
|-
|Nicolaus Copernicus International Essay Competition
|American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs
|First Place Winner, Senior Division
|-
|Tau Beta Pi Essay Competition
|Tau Beta Pi Association
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden_(Interview)] An Interview With Les Golden
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project] N.E.A.R.
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/University_of_California_Jazz_Ensembles] U.C. Jazz
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/KALX] KALX Radio 90.7 FM
*[http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden] Illinois Authors Listing
*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/laboratory-exercises-in-physics-for-modern-astronomy/oclc/773666079] World Catalog Listing
*[http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx] Collected Writings
*[http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden] Library Thing Listing
* [http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden] Authors Den Listing

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Theatre]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
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Les Golden

2013-04-05T23:24:00Z

CleteGolden: /* Categories */

{{Infobox_Person
| name = Les Golden
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Scooter (boyhood athlete)Clete (college baseball player)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian, cartoonist
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for rouletteInfluences -- Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| influences = Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| contact = drlesgo@aol.com; lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com; literary agent - elagencywest@aol.com
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden http://www.oocities.org/goldenforstaterepresentative
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, [[Illinois]].<ref> http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref><ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref><ref> http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenlesliem</ref><ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref> He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and [[Bluff Magazine|Bluff Europe]] print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]] and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]].

==Background==
===Education and Research===
[[File: LesGoldenCollectedWritings.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden]] Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea. He taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University,<ref name="Cornell">http://www.cornell65.com/interest/golden.html</ref> where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Technology and Marquis Who's Who in the World.

In addition to the many citations to his scholarly research in astronomy and the history of science, Golden’s writings and work has been cited in numerous books.<ref>see, for example, The Complete Guide to the Illinois Software Industry, Chicago Software Association; Cornell Engineer, Cornell University College of Engineering; Mix Hypermedia, Mix Publications; The Griffith Observer, Griffith Observatory; http://books.google.com/books?id=99oqAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&dq=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&hl=en</ref>

The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden (Duc Publishing, ISBN 978-6-1368-4994-2)<ref>www.renotransmission.com/installation.html</ref><ref>www.oakparkjournal.com/2012/2012-Book-announced-Golden-bio.html </ref><ref>www.topix.com/forum/games/blackjack/TM5R2SK854B8812DS</ref><ref>www.publishingheadlines.com/biography-of-les-golden-published-by-duc-publishing/</ref> which is available worldwide.<ref>See, for example, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-golden-jordan-naoum/1104425304; http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Jordan-Naoum/dp/6136849941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327941857&sr=1-1; http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9786136849942; http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx </ref>

===Performing===
[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref><ref>(2004) http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-Field-Park-ralley-July-8th-2pm.html</ref><ref>“Oak Park Environmentalist Persuades School to Save Taxpayer Dollars, Intergovernmental Cooperation the Key to Recycling Dutch Elm Mulch,” www.oakparkjournal.com/stories2004/2005-les-golden-mulch-nov.html</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>www.locatetv.com/person/les-golden/118760</ref><ref>http://www.reelz.com/person/146084/les-golden/movie-friends/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]]. With the arrival of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'', '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

He is a published jazz critic.<ref>Golden, Les (1994), “Ravinia places Chicago on map for jazz fans,” ''Northwest Leader'', August 3, p. 6</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the [[Eddie Hubbard]] Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He was one of the stable of gifted Chicago character actors cast in numerous national and regional television commercials by renowned director [[Josef Sedelmaier]] of “Where’s the Beef?” fame. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble. He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|Les Golden possesses a "great character face." Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

As an editorial and comic cartoonist, Les Golden has been widely published. He is listed in [[Comiclopedia]]<ref>http://lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm</ref>. His subjects are taken from his interest in politics and other careers as a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, environmentalist, animal welfare advocate, astronomer, and professor. He may be best known for his strip "Captain Industry" from the 1980's. His content ranges from politically controversial to school-boy silliness, with a clean line-art artistic style. His textbook, Laboratory Exercises in Physics for Modern Astronomy (Springer-Verlag, 2012), includes numerous of his comic illustrations, including those of possible extraterrestrials. He credits Betty Edwards, author of Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as his major artistic influence. [[File:LesGoldenCartoona.jpg|thumb|left|225px|As a cartoonist, Les Golden is widely published. Among other venues, he contributes cartoons to various gambling magazines. Copyright 2012 Les Golden. All rights reserved.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
[[File: LesGoldenNEAR.jpg|thumb|right|150px| Les Golden, astronomer, founded the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] while a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.]]Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics as an Adjunct Professor of Management Science in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1?detailsPage=authorsAndEditors</ref>

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px| Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref><ref> articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/astronomy/recent/4</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref> he presented a series of lectures to the renowned Field Museum of Natural History on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

==Renaissance Man Description==
Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath. [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px| Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine. "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school. You'd accuse us of making him up, right? Wait, it gets better. Let's say all of that is not enough. Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum. From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.]]

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden? Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on. You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn, Eric, "This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes. See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

“His interests form a list so long as to stagger the imagination. He is a stand-up comic who has performed all over the United States and Mexico, a professional actor in more than 100 plays, films and commercials; and he is the author of Basic Composer, PC-compatible software that is used to compose, play back, and print music and lyrics. (As an astronomer), in 1986 he went on a Halley’s Comet cruise, following the comet from Acapulco to Greece and transmitting reports to the Syndicated Writers’ Group.”<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man. His numerous activities have provided him with many names. Play the Les Golden Name Game! ]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

Les Golden has featured listings at Library Thing,<ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref> Illinois Authors, <ref>http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref> and Authors Den.<ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
[[File: LesGoldenUnitedAirlines.jpg|thumb|left|125px| International poster-boy for United Airlines. These brochures were available at every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world. An accompanying poster was on the wall in every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world as well as being printed in every major American newspaper (and perhaps foreign as well).]]In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>http://www.sbg-globalblackjack.com/p/blackjack-news-headlines-for-september-02-2011</ref><ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>(1995) Krapf, Paula, “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>(1998) Silver, Moe (name adopted by writer Ken Trainor for purpose of article), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref><ref name="Cornell"/><ref>http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__les_golden_28</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the [[normal curve]], and Gambler's ruin, and often employing [[Monte Carlo]] simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> [[File:LesGoldenasDrArmstrong.jpg‎|thumb|150px|Les Golden had the part of Dr. Armstrong in Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians." Golden is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref><ref>http://triblocal.com/members/dianenichols/mentions/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenAsteroidDiscovery.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The beginnings of the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] was the subject of an article in Compuserve Magazine, which also discussed his being a writer for the Syndicated Writers’ Group reporting as a Halley’s Comet lecturer on the high seas.]]Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize,<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref>, the Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition,<ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref>, the International Compuserve Magazine Essay Contest,<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref> and the First Prize in the [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] International Essay Competition (American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs). Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. ]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBlackjackArticle.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The June, 2011, paper in The Mathematical Scientist, a peer-reviewed British scholarly journal, established Prof. Les Golden as a recognized expert in the probability and statistics as well as strategy of the casino game of blackjack. ]]Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBook.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The bookseller flyer for Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy.]]The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.]]
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. He later formed the [[TURF Party]] (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

A major influence on animal welfare and environmental protection efforts locally and in the State of Illinois, Golden has been a leader in water and materials conservation, recycling, tree protection, wildlife protection, pesticide bans, efforts to retard global warming, and numerous other initiatives, as well as childhood education in these efforts. He has achieved numerous reforms in this regard as president of the [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. [[File: LesGoldenOakParkPesticideBan.jpg|thumb|left|175px|In 1991, Les Golden, as president of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment, achieved a ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation centers of Oak Park, Illinois.]]

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
[[File: LesGoldenTreeRally.jpg|thumb|right|150px|In 2007, Leslie M. Golden discovered the plan by the Oak Park Park District to destroy all the old growth trees in a local park. Within 48 hours, on the July 4th weekend, he organized a committee to hold a Sunday rally, wrote a flyer, had the flyer distributed throughout the community, obtained speakers, and notified the press. Over 200 people attended on the hottest day of the year.]]His political candidacies for U.S. Congress<ref>(1996) Kass, John, “Nothing dull about 7th race – U.S. House contest full of controversy,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 8, Section 2, p. 1</ref> and State Representative<ref>(1992) Zorn, Eric, “But Yakov seems so, so . . . judicial,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 10, Section 2, p. 1</ref><ref>(1996) Montgomery, Susan, “GOP slates Golden to run for state rep,” ''Oak Leaves'', July 3, p. 10</ref><ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16936&WhenStart=2011-08-06+12%3A51%3A32</ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref> using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref><ref>http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/09/should-we-use-cheryle-robinson-jackson-or-stick-with-cheryle-jackson-.html</ref><ref> (1996) Hevrkejs, Judy and Conklin, Mike, “Cutting Les,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 12, p. 2</ref><ref> (1996) “ ‘Cut the Taxes’ cut from GOP ballot,” ''West Suburban Post'', March 8, p. 5</ref><ref>http://forums.gunbroker.com/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=34426</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

[[File: LesGoldenCutTaxingDistricts.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As the GOP candidate for the office of State Representative from the 8th Illinois district, Golden suggested means for funding education.]]In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref><ref>http://www.chicagogop.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/drlesmgolden</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He has consistently fought legislation removing property tax caps in Illinois.<ref> (1995) Schory, Brenda, “Loud protest trails quiet passage of tax cap bill,” Kane County Chronicle, July 7, p. 1</ref> He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He is President of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) in Oak Park, Suburban Coordinator of the Alliance of (Cook) County Taxpayers (ACT), and heads the National Taxpayers United of Oak Park.

Golden received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==Published Books==
*''Basic Composer: An Analysis of Music Notation Software'', Music Education Incentives Publishers (1988)
*''Astronomy 101'', UIC Press (1994)
*''A Field Guide for Political Activists: How to Generate Support and Turn Out Your Voters'', Lee Brooke (2008)
*''Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles'', Springer Science+Business (2012)<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1</ref>

==Selected Theatrical, Film, Radio, Television, and Commercial Credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Director
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Co-stars
|-
|Kronenbourgh Beer
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Murray
|Bruce Jarchow
|-
|Tony’s Pizza
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Vito
|
|-
|Chicago Tribune
|Jim Wotring
|Jo-jo
|Marji Bank, Ernest Perry
|-
|K-Mart
|Jim Wotring
|Lester
|Tim Gamble
|-
|Eagle Foods
|Gerald Hagner
|Les
|Ken Anderson (athlete)
|-
|Motorola Cellular
|Ed Italo
|Miller
|Lee Trevino (athlete)
|-
|Buick
|Jim Parish
|Cal
|Don Majowski (athlete)
|-
|True Value Hardware
|Jim Lynch
|Professor Astroray
|(one-person show)
|-
|Cognex
|Stewart Talent
|Timothy McCoy
|Paula Scrofano
|-
|Illinois State Lottery
|Jeff Jones
|Big Brother
|
|-
|Heinz Ketchup
|Bob Shallcross
|Les Golden (stand-up comedian as himself)
|
|-
|Bubble Up
|Stan Cottle
|Murray
|Charlotte Ross
|-
|The Len Petrulis Show
|Len Petrulis
|Phillipe Maurice, Parisian fashion designer
|Kajon Mueller
|-
|Freeman Shoes
|Loren Ostir
|Wally Tucker
|
|-
|Thrift Drugs
|Clay Covert
|Mr. Eisen
|(one-person show)
|-
|Madison Gas and Electric
|Bob Wendt
|Bob
|(one-person show)
|-
|Ohio Edison
|Ken Ancell
|Mr. Heater
|(one-person show)
|-
|American Family Insurance
|John Alexson
|Mark
|Rick Plastina
|-
|Outtakes
|Jack Sell
|Harvey Knox
|Broderick Crawford
|-
|The Nightmare Trial of Billy Barnes
|Gerald Rogers
|Edward Keppel
|
|-
|The Roommate
|Nell Cox
|Mr. Chipbeef
|Barry Miller, Lance Guest
|-
|Welcome Home, Bobby
|Herbert Wise
|Coach Lazare
|Adam Baldwin
|-
|How I Became A Holy Mother
|Arnold Aprill
|Master
|Patti Shaughnessy
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|Dale Calandra
|Gremio
|Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, and others
|-
|YMCA
|Jerold Haislmaier
|Michael Marks
|
|-
|Ten Little Indians
|Faith Dukor-Chaplick
|Dr. Armstrong
|June Atkinson, Russ Cady
|-
|Stage Struck
|James Carter
|Herman
|Jim Mullen
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Faith Baime
|Vinnie
|
|-
|What the Wine Sellers Buy
|Wanda Getsug
|George
|Lucy Evans
|-
|The Little Sister
|Ray Andrecheck
|Toad
|B.F. Helman
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|David Darlow
|Vincentio
|Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Kristine Thatcher, Greg Vinkler, Michael Halberstam, and others
|-
|The Inspector General
|Knowles Cooke
|Bobchinsky
|Stephen Straight, Barbara Tucker
|-
|Eddie Hubbard Show Live from Arnie’s
|Eddie Hubbard
|Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell
|Robert Goulet, and others
|-
|Unshackled!
|Jack O’Dell
|Richard Goldstein (and others)
|Judith Easton, David Mink, and others
|-
|Deadly Spygames
|Jack Sell
|General Vladimir Korchenko
|Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue
|-
|Lady Blue
|Gary Nelson
|Davey Carlton
|Danny Aiello, Jamie Rose, Ron Dean
|}

==Writing Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Competition
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Sponsor
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Award
|-
|Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize
|Eric Hoffer
|First Place Winner
|-
|Cornell Engineer Feature Article Competition
|Cornell University College of Engineering
|First Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, Second Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, All Issues, Second Place Winner
|-
|Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition
|Griffith Observatory
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|International Compuserve Magazine Essay Competition
|Compuserve Magazine
|First Place Winner
|-
|Nicolaus Copernicus International Essay Competition
|American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs
|First Place Winner, Senior Division
|-
|Tau Beta Pi Essay Competition
|Tau Beta Pi Association
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden_(Interview)] An Interview With Les Golden
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project] N.E.A.R.
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/University_of_California_Jazz_Ensembles] U.C. Jazz
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/KALX] KALX Radio 90.7 FM
*[http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden] Illinois Authors Listing
*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/laboratory-exercises-in-physics-for-modern-astronomy/oclc/773666079] World Catalog Listing
*[http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx] Collected Writings
*[http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden] Library Thing Listing
* [http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden] Authors Den Listing

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Theatre]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
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Les M. Golden

2013-04-04T12:39:15Z

CleteGolden:

{{Infobox_Person
| name = Les Golden
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Scooter (boyhood athlete)Clete (college baseball player)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian, cartoonist
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for rouletteInfluences -- Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| influences = Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| contact = drlesgo@aol.com; lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com; literary agent - elagencywest@aol.com
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden http://www.oocities.org/goldenforstaterepresentative;

}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, [[Illinois]].<ref> http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref><ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref><ref> http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenlesliem</ref><ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref> He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and [[Bluff Magazine|Bluff Europe]] print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]] and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]].

==Background==
===Education and Research===
[[File: LesGoldenCollectedWritings.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden]] Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea. He taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University,<ref name="Cornell">http://www.cornell65.com/interest/golden.html</ref> where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Technology and Marquis Who's Who in the World.

In addition to the many citations to his scholarly research in astronomy and the history of science, Golden’s writings and work has been cited in numerous books.<ref>see, for example, The Complete Guide to the Illinois Software Industry, Chicago Software Association; Cornell Engineer, Cornell University College of Engineering; Mix Hypermedia, Mix Publications; The Griffith Observer, Griffith Observatory; http://books.google.com/books?id=99oqAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&dq=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&hl=en</ref>

The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden (Duc Publishing, ISBN 978-6-1368-4994-2)<ref>www.renotransmission.com/installation.html</ref><ref>www.oakparkjournal.com/2012/2012-Book-announced-Golden-bio.html </ref><ref>www.topix.com/forum/games/blackjack/TM5R2SK854B8812DS</ref><ref>www.publishingheadlines.com/biography-of-les-golden-published-by-duc-publishing/</ref> which is available worldwide.<ref>See, for example, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-golden-jordan-naoum/1104425304; http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Jordan-Naoum/dp/6136849941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327941857&sr=1-1; http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9786136849942; http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx </ref>

===Performing===
[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref><ref>(2004) http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-Field-Park-ralley-July-8th-2pm.html</ref><ref>“Oak Park Environmentalist Persuades School to Save Taxpayer Dollars, Intergovernmental Cooperation the Key to Recycling Dutch Elm Mulch,” www.oakparkjournal.com/stories2004/2005-les-golden-mulch-nov.html</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>www.locatetv.com/person/les-golden/118760</ref><ref>http://www.reelz.com/person/146084/les-golden/movie-friends/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]]. With the arrival of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/ </ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'', '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

He is a published jazz critic.<ref>Golden, Les (1994), “Ravinia places Chicago on map for jazz fans,” ''Northwest Leader'', August 3, p. 6</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the [[Eddie Hubbard]] Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He was one of the stable of gifted Chicago character actors cast in numerous national and regional television commercials by renowned director [[Josef Sedelmaier]] of “Where’s the Beef?” fame. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble. He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|Les Golden possesses a "great character face." Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

As an editorial and comic cartoonist, Les Golden has been widely published. He is listed in [[Comiclopedia]]<ref>http://lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm</ref>. His subjects are taken from his interest in politics and other careers as a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, environmentalist, animal welfare advocate, astronomer, and professor. He may be best known for his strip "Captain Industry" from the 1980's. His content ranges from politically controversial to school-boy silliness, with a clean line-art artistic style. His textbook, Laboratory Exercises in Physics for Modern Astronomy (Springer-Verlag, 2012), includes numerous of his comic illustrations, including those of possible extraterrestrials. He credits Betty Edwards, author of Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as his major artistic influence. [[File:LesGoldenCartoona.jpg|thumb|left|225px|As a cartoonist, Les Golden is widely published. Among other venues, he contributes cartoons to various gambling magazines. Copyright 2012 Les Golden. All rights reserved.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
[[File: LesGoldenNEAR.jpg|thumb|right|150px| Les Golden, astronomer, founded the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] while a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.]]Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics as an Adjunct Professor of Management Science in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1?detailsPage=authorsAndEditors</ref>

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px| Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref><ref> articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/astronomy/recent/4</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref> he presented a series of lectures to the renowned Field Museum of Natural History on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

==Renaissance Man Description==
Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath. [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px| Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine. "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school. You'd accuse us of making him up, right? Wait, it gets better. Let's say all of that is not enough. Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum. From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.]]

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden? Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on. You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn, Eric, "This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes. See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

“His interests form a list so long as to stagger the imagination. He is a stand-up comic who has performed all over the United States and Mexico, a professional actor in more than 100 plays, films and commercials; and he is the author of Basic Composer, PC-compatible software that is used to compose, play back, and print music and lyrics. (As an astronomer), in 1986 he went on a Halley’s Comet cruise, following the comet from Acapulco to Greece and transmitting reports to the Syndicated Writers’ Group.”<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man. His numerous activities have provided him with many names. Play the Les Golden Name Game! ]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

Les Golden has featured listings at Library Thing,<ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref> Illinois Authors, <ref>http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref> and Authors Den.<ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
[[File: LesGoldenUnitedAirlines.jpg|thumb|left|125px| International poster-boy for United Airlines. These brochures were available at every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world. An accompanying poster was on the wall in every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world as well as being printed in every major American newspaper (and perhaps foreign as well).]]In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>http://www.sbg-globalblackjack.com/p/blackjack-news-headlines-for-september-02-2011</ref><ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>(1995) Krapf, Paula, “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>(1998) Silver, Moe (name adopted by writer Ken Trainor for purpose of article), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref><ref name="Cornell"/><ref>http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__les_golden_28</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the [[normal curve]], and Gambler's ruin, and often employing [[Monte Carlo]] simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> [[File:LesGoldenasDrArmstrong.jpg‎|thumb|150px|Les Golden had the part of Dr. Armstrong in Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians." Golden is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref><ref>http://triblocal.com/members/dianenichols/mentions/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenAsteroidDiscovery.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The beginnings of the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] was the subject of an article in Compuserve Magazine, which also discussed his being a writer for the Syndicated Writers’ Group reporting as a Halley’s Comet lecturer on the high seas.]]Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize,<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref>, the Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition,<ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref>, the International Compuserve Magazine Essay Contest,<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref> and the First Prize in the [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] International Essay Competition (American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs). Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. ]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBlackjackArticle.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The June, 2011, paper in The Mathematical Scientist, a peer-reviewed British scholarly journal, established Prof. Les Golden as a recognized expert in the probability and statistics as well as strategy of the casino game of blackjack. ]]Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBook.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The bookseller flyer for Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy.]]The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.]]
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. He later formed the [[TURF Party]] (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

A major influence on animal welfare and environmental protection efforts locally and in the State of Illinois, Golden has been a leader in water and materials conservation, recycling, tree protection, wildlife protection, pesticide bans, efforts to retard global warming, and numerous other initiatives, as well as childhood education in these efforts. He has achieved numerous reforms in this regard as president of the [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. [[File: LesGoldenOakParkPesticideBan.jpg|thumb|left|175px|In 1991, Les Golden, as president of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment, achieved a ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation centers of Oak Park, Illinois.]]

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
[[File: LesGoldenTreeRally.jpg|thumb|right|150px|In 2007, Leslie M. Golden discovered the plan by the Oak Park Park District to destroy all the old growth trees in a local park. Within 48 hours, on the July 4th weekend, he organized a committee to hold a Sunday rally, wrote a flyer, had the flyer distributed throughout the community, obtained speakers, and notified the press. Over 200 people attended on the hottest day of the year.]]His political candidacies for U.S. Congress<ref>(1996) Kass, John, “Nothing dull about 7th race – U.S. House contest full of controversy,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 8, Section 2, p. 1</ref> and State Representative<ref>(1992) Zorn, Eric, “But Yakov seems so, so . . . judicial,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 10, Section 2, p. 1</ref><ref>(1996) Montgomery, Susan, “GOP slates Golden to run for state rep,” ''Oak Leaves'', July 3, p. 10</ref><ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16936&WhenStart=2011-08-06+12%3A51%3A32</ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref> using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref><ref>http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/09/should-we-use-cheryle-robinson-jackson-or-stick-with-cheryle-jackson-.html</ref><ref> (1996) Hevrkejs, Judy and Conklin, Mike, “Cutting Les,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 12, p. 2</ref><ref> (1996) “ ‘Cut the Taxes’ cut from GOP ballot,” ''West Suburban Post'', March 8, p. 5</ref><ref>http://forums.gunbroker.com/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=34426</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

[[File: LesGoldenCutTaxingDistricts.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As the GOP candidate for the office of State Representative from the 8th Illinois district, Golden suggested means for funding education.]]In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref><ref>http://www.chicagogop.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/drlesmgolden</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He has consistently fought legislation removing property tax caps in Illinois.<ref> (1995) Schory, Brenda, “Loud protest trails quiet passage of tax cap bill,” Kane County Chronicle, July 7, p. 1</ref> He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He is President of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) in Oak Park, Suburban Coordinator of the Alliance of (Cook) County Taxpayers (ACT), and heads the National Taxpayers United of Oak Park.

Golden received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==Published Books==
*''Basic Composer: An Analysis of Music Notation Software'', Music Education Incentives Publishers (1988)
*''Astronomy 101'', UIC Press (1994)
*''A Field Guide for Political Activists: How to Generate Support and Turn Out Your Voters'', Lee Brooke (2008)
*''Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles'', Springer Science+Business (2012)<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1</ref>

==Selected Theatrical, Film, Radio, Television, and Commercial Credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Director
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Co-stars
|-
|Kronenbourgh Beer
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Murray
|Bruce Jarchow
|-
|Tony’s Pizza
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Vito
|
|-
|Chicago Tribune
|Jim Wotring
|Jo-jo
|Marji Bank, Ernest Perry
|-
|K-Mart
|Jim Wotring
|Lester
|Tim Gamble
|-
|Eagle Foods
|Gerald Hagner
|Les
|Ken Anderson (athlete)
|-
|Motorola Cellular
|Ed Italo
|Miller
|Lee Trevino (athlete)
|-
|Buick
|Jim Parish
|Cal
|Don Majowski (athlete)
|-
|True Value Hardware
|Jim Lynch
|Professor Astroray
|(one-person show)
|-
|Cognex
|Stewart Talent
|Timothy McCoy
|Paula Scrofano
|-
|Illinois State Lottery
|Jeff Jones
|Big Brother
|
|-
|Heinz Ketchup
|Bob Shallcross
|Les Golden (stand-up comedian as himself)
|
|-
|Bubble Up
|Stan Cottle
|Murray
|Charlotte Ross
|-
|The Len Petrulis Show
|Len Petrulis
|Phillipe Maurice, Parisian fashion designer
|Kajon Mueller
|-
|Freeman Shoes
|Loren Ostir
|Wally Tucker
|
|-
|Thrift Drugs
|Clay Covert
|Mr. Eisen
|(one-person show)
|-
|Madison Gas and Electric
|Bob Wendt
|Bob
|(one-person show)
|-
|Ohio Edison
|Ken Ancell
|Mr. Heater
|(one-person show)
|-
|American Family Insurance
|John Alexson
|Mark
|Rick Plastina
|-
|Outtakes
|Jack Sell
|Harvey Knox
|Broderick Crawford
|-
|The Nightmare Trial of Billy Barnes
|Gerald Rogers
|Edward Keppel
|
|-
|The Roommate
|Nell Cox
|Mr. Chipbeef
|Barry Miller, Lance Guest
|-
|Welcome Home, Bobby
|Herbert Wise
|Coach Lazare
|Adam Baldwin
|-
|How I Became A Holy Mother
|Arnold Aprill
|Master
|Patti Shaughnessy
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|Dale Calandra
|Gremio
|Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, and others
|-
|YMCA
|Jerold Haislmaier
|Michael Marks
|
|-
|Ten Little Indians
|Faith Dukor-Chaplick
|Dr. Armstrong
|June Atkinson, Russ Cady
|-
|Stage Struck
|James Carter
|Herman
|Jim Mullen
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Faith Baime
|Vinnie
|
|-
|What the Wine Sellers Buy
|Wanda Getsug
|George
|Lucy Evans
|-
|The Little Sister
|Ray Andrecheck
|Toad
|B.F. Helman
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|David Darlow
|Vincentio
|Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Kristine Thatcher, Greg Vinkler, Michael Halberstam, and others
|-
|The Inspector General
|Knowles Cooke
|Bobchinsky
|Stephen Straight, Barbara Tucker
|-
|Eddie Hubbard Show Live from Arnie’s
|Eddie Hubbard
|Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell
|Robert Goulet, and others
|-
|Unshackled!
|Jack O’Dell
|Richard Goldstein (and others)
|Judith Easton, David Mink, and others
|-
|Deadly Spygames
|Jack Sell
|General Vladimir Korchenko
|Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue
|-
|Lady Blue
|Gary Nelson
|Davey Carlton
|Danny Aiello, Jamie Rose, Ron Dean
|}

==Writing Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Competition
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Sponsor
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Award
|-
|Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize
|Eric Hoffer
|First Place Winner
|-
|Cornell Engineer Feature Article Competition
|Cornell University College of Engineering
|First Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, Second Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, All Issues, Second Place Winner
|-
|Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition
|Griffith Observatory
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|International Compuserve Magazine Essay Competition
|Compuserve Magazine
|First Place Winner
|-
|Nicolaus Copernicus International Essay Competition
|American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs
|First Place Winner, Senior Division
|-
|Tau Beta Pi Essay Competition
|Tau Beta Pi Association
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden_(Interview)] An Interview With Les Golden
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project] N.E.A.R.
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/University_of_California_Jazz_Ensembles] U.C. Jazz
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/KALX] KALX Radio 90.7 FM
*[http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden] Illinois Authors Listing
*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/laboratory-exercises-in-physics-for-modern-astronomy/oclc/773666079] World Catalog Listing
*[http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx] Collected Writings
*[http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden] Library Thing Listing
* [http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden] Authors Den Listing

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Theatre]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
[[Category:Betting systems]]
[[Category:Research]]
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[[Category:Notable residents of Oak Park Illinois]]
[[Category:Notable residents of Illinois]]
[[Category:Gambling writers]]

Leslie M. Golden

2013-04-04T12:33:29Z

CleteGolden:

{{Infobox_Person
| name = Les Golden
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Scooter (boyhood athlete)Clete (college baseball player)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian, cartoonist
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for rouletteInfluences -- Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| influences = Nina Grace Smith, L. Knowles Cooke, [[Frank Drake]], W.J. "Jack" Welch, [[David W. Tucker]], Edward O. Thorp, [[Del Close]]
| contact = drlesgo@aol.com; lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden http://www.oocities.org/goldenforstaterepresentativedrlesgo@aol.com; cell 773-837-3146
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, [[Illinois]].<ref> http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref><ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref><ref> http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenlesliem</ref><ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref> He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and [[Bluff Magazine|Bluff Europe]] print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to [[Reno]], [[Nevada]] and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], and [[Reno]], [[Nevada]].

==Background==
===Education and Research===
[[File: LesGoldenCollectedWritings.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden]] Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea. He taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University,<ref name="Cornell">http://www.cornell65.com/interest/golden.html</ref> where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Technology and Marquis Who's Who in the World.

In addition to the many citations to his scholarly research in astronomy and the history of science, Golden’s writings and work has been cited in numerous books.<ref>see, for example, The Complete Guide to the Illinois Software Industry, Chicago Software Association; Cornell Engineer, Cornell University College of Engineering; Mix Hypermedia, Mix Publications; The Griffith Observer, Griffith Observatory; http://books.google.com/books?id=99oqAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&dq=%22Leslie+M.+Golden%22&hl=en</ref>

The noted author and biographer Jordan Naoum has published collected writings of Golden in his 2011 book, Les Golden (Duc Publishing, ISBN 978-6-1368-4994-2)<ref>www.renotransmission.com/installation.html</ref><ref>www.oakparkjournal.com/2012/2012-Book-announced-Golden-bio.html </ref><ref>www.topix.com/forum/games/blackjack/TM5R2SK854B8812DS</ref><ref>www.publishingheadlines.com/biography-of-les-golden-published-by-duc-publishing/</ref> which is available worldwide.<ref>See, for example, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-golden-jordan-naoum/1104425304; http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Jordan-Naoum/dp/6136849941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327941857&sr=1-1; http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9786136849942; http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx </ref>

===Performing===
[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref><ref>(2004) http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-Field-Park-ralley-July-8th-2pm.html</ref><ref>“Oak Park Environmentalist Persuades School to Save Taxpayer Dollars, Intergovernmental Cooperation the Key to Recycling Dutch Elm Mulch,” www.oakparkjournal.com/stories2004/2005-les-golden-mulch-nov.html</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>www.locatetv.com/person/les-golden/118760</ref><ref>http://www.reelz.com/person/146084/les-golden/movie-friends/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]]. With the arrival of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/ </ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'', '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

He is a published jazz critic.<ref>Golden, Les (1994), “Ravinia places Chicago on map for jazz fans,” ''Northwest Leader'', August 3, p. 6</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the [[Eddie Hubbard]] Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He was one of the stable of gifted Chicago character actors cast in numerous national and regional television commercials by renowned director [[Josef Sedelmaier]] of “Where’s the Beef?” fame. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble. He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|Les Golden possesses a "great character face." Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

As an editorial and comic cartoonist, Les Golden has been widely published. He is listed in [[Comiclopedia]]<ref>http://lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm</ref>. His subjects are taken from his interest in politics and other careers as a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, environmentalist, animal welfare advocate, astronomer, and professor. He may be best known for his strip "Captain Industry" from the 1980's. His content ranges from politically controversial to school-boy silliness, with a clean line-art artistic style. His textbook, Laboratory Exercises in Physics for Modern Astronomy (Springer-Verlag, 2012), includes numerous of his comic illustrations, including those of possible extraterrestrials. He credits Betty Edwards, author of Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain, as his major artistic influence. [[File:LesGoldenCartoona.jpg|thumb|left|225px|As a cartoonist, Les Golden is widely published. Among other venues, he contributes cartoons to various gambling magazines. Copyright 2012 Les Golden. All rights reserved.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
[[File: LesGoldenNEAR.jpg|thumb|right|150px| Les Golden, astronomer, founded the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] while a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.]]Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics as an Adjunct Professor of Management Science in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1?detailsPage=authorsAndEditors</ref>

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px| Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref><ref> articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/astronomy/recent/4</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref> he presented a series of lectures to the renowned Field Museum of Natural History on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

==Renaissance Man Description==
Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath. [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px| Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine. "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school. You'd accuse us of making him up, right? Wait, it gets better. Let's say all of that is not enough. Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum. From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.]]

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden? Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on. You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn, Eric, "This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes. See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

“His interests form a list so long as to stagger the imagination. He is a stand-up comic who has performed all over the United States and Mexico, a professional actor in more than 100 plays, films and commercials; and he is the author of Basic Composer, PC-compatible software that is used to compose, play back, and print music and lyrics. (As an astronomer), in 1986 he went on a Halley’s Comet cruise, following the comet from Acapulco to Greece and transmitting reports to the Syndicated Writers’ Group.”<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man. His numerous activities have provided him with many names. Play the Les Golden Name Game! ]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref><ref>Lynch, Dennis, (1990), “Unlock your creativity via computers,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, Section 3, p. 3, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-02-23/entertainment/9001160136_1_computers-apple-iigs-steve-jobs</ref>

Les Golden has featured listings at Library Thing,<ref>http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden</ref> Illinois Authors, <ref>http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden</ref> and Authors Den.<ref>http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
[[File: LesGoldenUnitedAirlines.jpg|thumb|left|125px| International poster-boy for United Airlines. These brochures were available at every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world. An accompanying poster was on the wall in every UAL ticket office and airport terminal in the world as well as being printed in every major American newspaper (and perhaps foreign as well).]]In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>http://www.sbg-globalblackjack.com/p/blackjack-news-headlines-for-september-02-2011</ref><ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>(1995) Krapf, Paula, “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>(1998) Silver, Moe (name adopted by writer Ken Trainor for purpose of article), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref><ref name="Cornell"/><ref>http://www.trueknowledge.com/q/facts_about__les_golden_28</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the [[normal curve]], and Gambler's ruin, and often employing [[Monte Carlo]] simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> [[File:LesGoldenasDrArmstrong.jpg‎|thumb|150px|Les Golden had the part of Dr. Armstrong in Agatha Christie’s "Ten Little Indians." Golden is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref><ref>http://triblocal.com/members/dianenichols/mentions/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenAsteroidDiscovery.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The beginnings of the [[Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] was the subject of an article in Compuserve Magazine, which also discussed his being a writer for the Syndicated Writers’ Group reporting as a Halley’s Comet lecturer on the high seas.]]Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize,<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref>, the Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition,<ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref>, the International Compuserve Magazine Essay Contest,<ref>(1991) “CB as a Channel for Discovery,” ''Compuserve Magazine'', December, p. 18</ref> and the First Prize in the [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] International Essay Competition (American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs). Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. ]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBlackjackArticle.jpg|thumb|right|125px| The June, 2011, paper in The Mathematical Scientist, a peer-reviewed British scholarly journal, established Prof. Les Golden as a recognized expert in the probability and statistics as well as strategy of the casino game of blackjack. ]]Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
[[File: DrLeslieMGoldenBook.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The bookseller flyer for Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy.]]The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.]]
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. He later formed the [[TURF Party]] (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

A major influence on animal welfare and environmental protection efforts locally and in the State of Illinois, Golden has been a leader in water and materials conservation, recycling, tree protection, wildlife protection, pesticide bans, efforts to retard global warming, and numerous other initiatives, as well as childhood education in these efforts. He has achieved numerous reforms in this regard as president of the [[CARE Party of Oak Park|CARE Party]]. [[File: LesGoldenOakParkPesticideBan.jpg|thumb|left|175px|In 1991, Les Golden, as president of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment, achieved a ban on pesticides in the parks and recreation centers of Oak Park, Illinois.]]

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
[[File: LesGoldenTreeRally.jpg|thumb|right|150px|In 2007, Leslie M. Golden discovered the plan by the Oak Park Park District to destroy all the old growth trees in a local park. Within 48 hours, on the July 4th weekend, he organized a committee to hold a Sunday rally, wrote a flyer, had the flyer distributed throughout the community, obtained speakers, and notified the press. Over 200 people attended on the hottest day of the year.]]His political candidacies for U.S. Congress<ref>(1996) Kass, John, “Nothing dull about 7th race – U.S. House contest full of controversy,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 8, Section 2, p. 1</ref> and State Representative<ref>(1992) Zorn, Eric, “But Yakov seems so, so . . . judicial,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 10, Section 2, p. 1</ref><ref>(1996) Montgomery, Susan, “GOP slates Golden to run for state rep,” ''Oak Leaves'', July 3, p. 10</ref><ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16936&WhenStart=2011-08-06+12%3A51%3A32</ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref> using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref><ref>http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/09/should-we-use-cheryle-robinson-jackson-or-stick-with-cheryle-jackson-.html</ref><ref> (1996) Hevrkejs, Judy and Conklin, Mike, “Cutting Les,” ''Chicago Tribune'', March 12, p. 2</ref><ref> (1996) “ ‘Cut the Taxes’ cut from GOP ballot,” ''West Suburban Post'', March 8, p. 5</ref><ref>http://forums.gunbroker.com/pop_printer_friendly.asp?TOPIC_ID=34426</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

[[File: LesGoldenCutTaxingDistricts.jpg|thumb|left|175px| As the GOP candidate for the office of State Representative from the 8th Illinois district, Golden suggested means for funding education.]]In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref><ref>http://www.chicagogop.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/drlesmgolden</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He has consistently fought legislation removing property tax caps in Illinois.<ref> (1995) Schory, Brenda, “Loud protest trails quiet passage of tax cap bill,” Kane County Chronicle, July 7, p. 1</ref> He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He is President of Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment/Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) in Oak Park, Suburban Coordinator of the Alliance of (Cook) County Taxpayers (ACT), and heads the National Taxpayers United of Oak Park.

Golden received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==Published Books==
*''Basic Composer: An Analysis of Music Notation Software'', Music Education Incentives Publishers (1988)
*''Astronomy 101'', UIC Press (1994)
*''A Field Guide for Political Activists: How to Generate Support and Turn Out Your Voters'', Lee Brooke (2008)
*''Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy'', Springer Science+Business (2012)<ref> http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-3310-1</ref>

==Selected Theatrical, Film, Radio, Television, and Commercial Credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Director
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Co-stars
|-
|Kronenbourgh Beer
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Murray
|Bruce Jarchow
|-
|Tony’s Pizza
|Josef Sedelmaier
|Vito
|
|-
|Chicago Tribune
|Jim Wotring
|Jo-jo
|Marji Bank, Ernest Perry
|-
|K-Mart
|Jim Wotring
|Lester
|Tim Gamble
|-
|Eagle Foods
|Gerald Hagner
|Les
|Ken Anderson (athlete)
|-
|Motorola Cellular
|Ed Italo
|Miller
|Lee Trevino (athlete)
|-
|Buick
|Jim Parish
|Cal
|Don Majowski (athlete)
|-
|True Value Hardware
|Jim Lynch
|Professor Astroray
|(one-person show)
|-
|Cognex
|Stewart Talent
|Timothy McCoy
|Paula Scrofano
|-
|Illinois State Lottery
|Jeff Jones
|Big Brother
|
|-
|Heinz Ketchup
|Bob Shallcross
|Les Golden (stand-up comedian as himself)
|
|-
|Bubble Up
|Stan Cottle
|Murray
|Charlotte Ross
|-
|The Len Petrulis Show
|Len Petrulis
|Phillipe Maurice, Parisian fashion designer
|Kajon Mueller
|-
|Freeman Shoes
|Loren Ostir
|Wally Tucker
|
|-
|Thrift Drugs
|Clay Covert
|Mr. Eisen
|(one-person show)
|-
|Madison Gas and Electric
|Bob Wendt
|Bob
|(one-person show)
|-
|Ohio Edison
|Ken Ancell
|Mr. Heater
|(one-person show)
|-
|American Family Insurance
|John Alexson
|Mark
|Rick Plastina
|-
|Outtakes
|Jack Sell
|Harvey Knox
|Broderick Crawford
|-
|The Nightmare Trial of Billy Barnes
|Gerald Rogers
|Edward Keppel
|
|-
|The Roommate
|Nell Cox
|Mr. Chipbeef
|Barry Miller, Lance Guest
|-
|Welcome Home, Bobby
|Herbert Wise
|Coach Lazare
|Adam Baldwin
|-
|How I Became A Holy Mother
|Arnold Aprill
|Master
|Patti Shaughnessy
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|Dale Calandra
|Gremio
|Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, and others
|-
|YMCA
|Jerold Haislmaier
|Michael Marks
|
|-
|Ten Little Indians
|Faith Dukor-Chaplick
|Dr. Armstrong
|June Atkinson, Russ Cady
|-
|Stage Struck
|James Carter
|Herman
|Jim Mullen
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Faith Baime
|Vinnie
|
|-
|What the Wine Sellers Buy
|Wanda Getsug
|George
|Lucy Evans
|-
|The Little Sister
|Ray Andrecheck
|Toad
|B.F. Helman
|-
|Taming of the Shrew
|David Darlow
|Vincentio
|Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Kristine Thatcher, Greg Vinkler, Michael Halberstam, and others
|-
|The Inspector General
|Knowles Cooke
|Bobchinsky
|Stephen Straight, Barbara Tucker
|-
|Eddie Hubbard Show Live from Arnie’s
|Eddie Hubbard
|Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell
|Robert Goulet, and others
|-
|Unshackled!
|Jack O’Dell
|Richard Goldstein (and others)
|Judith Easton, David Mink, and others
|-
|Deadly Spygames
|Jack Sell
|General Vladimir Korchenko
|Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue
|-
|Lady Blue
|Gary Nelson
|Davey Carlton
|Danny Aiello, Jamie Rose, Ron Dean
|}

==Writing Awards==
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:center;"
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Competition
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Sponsor
!style="background:#B0C4DE"|Award
|-
|Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize
|Eric Hoffer
|First Place Winner
|-
|Cornell Engineer Feature Article Competition
|Cornell University College of Engineering
|First Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, Second Place Winner
|-
|Engineering College Magazines Association Awards
|Engineering College Magazines Association
|Best Editorial, All Issues, Second Place Winner
|-
|Griffith Observatory Science Writing Competition
|Griffith Observatory
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|International Compuserve Magazine Essay Competition
|Compuserve Magazine
|First Place Winner
|-
|Nicolaus Copernicus International Essay Competition
|American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs
|First Place Winner, Senior Division
|-
|Tau Beta Pi Essay Competition
|Tau Beta Pi Association
|Honorable Mention Winner
|-
|}

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden_(Interview)] An Interview With Les Golden
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project] N.E.A.R.
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/University_of_California_Jazz_Ensembles] U.C. Jazz
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/KALX] KALX Radio 90.7 FM
*[http://www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden] Illinois Authors Listing
*[http://www.worldcat.org/title/laboratory-exercises-in-physics-for-modern-astronomy/oclc/773666079] World Catalog Listing
*[http://www.betterworldbooks.com/les-golden-id-6136849941.aspx] Collected Writings
*[http://www.librarything.com/profile/Les_Golden] Library Thing Listing
* [http://www.authorsden.com/lesgolden] Authors Den Listing

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Theatre]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
[[Category:Betting systems]]
[[Category:Research]]
[[Category:Film theorists]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:Gambling]]
[[Category:Gambling games]]
[[Category:Gambling terminology]]
[[Category:American comedians]]
[[Category:American musicians]]
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[[Category:Notable residents of Illinois]]
[[Category:Gambling writers]]

Top 10 Reasons Not to Donate to Wikipedia

2011-12-27T21:00:14Z

CleteGolden:

{{toc right}}
Every year the [[Directory:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] asks for financial contributions from unsuspecting donors who don't realize that 54 cents of every dollar they contribute will be wasted on ledger items that are ''not'' the program services that the Wikimedia 501(c)(3) is obligated to uphold. So, every year we publicize this list of the '''Top 10 Reasons Not to Donate to Wikipedia''', in hopes that more people will become educated about what's really going on behind Wikipedia. Your comments are welcome on the [[Talk:Top 10 Reasons Not to Donate to Wikipedia|discussion page]] here, or you may e-mail ResearchBiz@gmail.com for more discreet dialog.

During the Wikimedia Foundation fundraising season, more than 1,000 people a day view this page. Thanks to excellent search engine rankings for the page, it is hoped that at least some of the readers who visit will be dissuaded from adding their donation to the Wikimedia Foundation's wasteful spending spree.

==Wikimedia Foundation finances are suspect.==
===Budget===
In 2011, the Wikimedia Foundation called for a budget of approximately $20 million. However, one assessment contends that Wikipedia and all its sister projects could probably [http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091221141604AAEUCsW operate on a budget] of $1.6 million (including salaries for several IT developers), because over 99% of the actual work being done is accomplished by unpaid volunteers. A [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4f/FINAL_08_09From_KPMG.pdf KPMG audit] reported that in 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation spent only $822,405 on Internet hosting fees, plus $1,259,161 in "operating" costs (which includes many of the unnecessary staff who had been hired in just the previous two years). Even this KPMG expense summary would dictate that $2.1 million would be sufficient for the Wikimedia Foundation, so why do they call for a budget nearly '''ten times''' what's actually needed? And look out, Wikimedia director Sue Gardner is [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/2011-2012_Annual_Plan_Questions_and_Answers#What.27s_the_revenue_target_for_2011-12.2C_and_how_does_it_compare_to_previous_years.3F calling for] a 50%-larger budget of $29.5 million for 2012! Last year, she tallied up a 12% pay raise for herself, even amidst a severe economic downturn.

===Governance===
The Wikimedia Foundation has a history of unclear, tardy, and misleading financial statements. The early Form 990s filed by the Foundation stated that there was "no business relationship" between any of the Board members, even though 60% of the Board were simultaneously employed as key principals by the for-profit commercial enterprise, [[Directory:Wikia|Wikia, Inc.]] Early on, the Wikimedia Foundation asked an attorney to design the organization as a membership body, but after his work was nearly complete, they [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alex756 scrapped the idea], having suddenly realized that a majority vote of citizen-members could unseat a corrupt Board of Trustees and demand line-by-line financial accountability. The Foundation's insiders didn't want that possibility to threaten them, so they insulated themselves from a voting membership by remaining a non-member organization. Multiple top staff and former officers have privately expressed concern over [http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/10/business/fi-wikipedia10 financial wrongdoing] by certain board members. Indeed, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Foundation ([[Directory:Carolyn Doran|Carolyn Doran]]) was a wanted multi-count felon. The Foundation's former executive director and head legal counsel, Brad Patrick, resigned due to problems the organization had with him. The Foundation lacks a Board of Trustees with a wide base of civic and social stakeholders. Almost to a person, they are cronies and insiders who were incubated within Wikipedia. The Foundation is by design narrow and weak, reflecting only the interests of a dysfunctional social networking community.

===Salaries===
The current Executive Director, Deputy Director, and their personal assistant had a [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/41/FY_2008_09_Annual_Plan.PDF reported compensation budget] and other expenses of $472,000, which was excessive for an organization of its size in 2008. At the same time as the above report, publicly-funded '''Earth Island Institute''' had revenue of about $6.5 million, 15 employees (practically the same size as the Wikimedia Foundation at the time, and headquarters in the very same city of San Francisco), but the CEO earned only $67,423. The Northern California chapter of the '''Arthritis Foundation''' had revenue of $5.1 million, but the CEO was paid only $45,050. '''Child Family Health International''' in San Francisco had revenue of $4.0 million and 11 employees, but the CEO earned only $82,000. Embarrassingly, when audited by Charity Navigator, for years the Wikimedia Foundation received only 1 star out of a possible four in the important category of ''Organizational Efficiency''. When you get right down to it, the money that people donate to the Wikimedia Foundation is more likely to be spent on an item that doesn't address the charitable mission of the organization than to be spent on something that does.

===Growth===
Ask yourself, how is Wikipedia inherently different now than it was in 2005? Other than an abortive attempt by Jimmy Wales to [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/wikimedia-commons-cannot-control-teen-pornography purge the site] of some images that could be construed as child pornography, there has been no major transformation at the site. Just some server volume growth -- a terribly cheap commodity to manage.

::'''Question''': Why have the gross receipts escalated from $361,000 to a requested 2012 budget of $29.5 million?

:::'''Answer''': Compensation for people not really doing anything besides watch the servers, enjoy global jet-setting, and run damage control for Jimbo's dalliances.

==Wikipedia has too much power.==
Wikipedia smothers out more authoritative, but less-linked-to sites in Google and other search engine rankings. Microsoft [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/?hp closed down Encarta], mainly due to the Wikipedia effect. Wikipedia has garnered an ability to set the 'truth' in mainstream media and blogs that consult it every day, without digging deeper to verify facts from independent sources. Controversial Wikipedia pages suffer from "ownership" by content bullies who drive off independent editors, all supported by administrator cabals who follow one another around, supporting reverted edits and editor blocks and bans. Wikipedia creates a monoculture of knowledge that is little different than a farmer who would make the mistake of planting just one type of crop, year after year.
 
{{GKAdBrite}}

==Only 2% of Users Are Active and Your Donation Supports Their Sense of Power==
Examination of the content of "active users" shows that out of every 50 users only one typically is active, to the extent of contributing at least 10 edits per day in a 30-day period. Examination of their edits shows that most are in the "deletion" and "talk page" business, rather than actual creation of articles. These individuals, hiding behind anonymity, apparently obtain a sense of power and sense of significance by demeaning individuals and institutions, particularly those in the BLP category who are far more successful than the "administrators." This is how these losers get their kicks.

Funding Wikipedia is essentially providing these miscreant, malcontents with a toy.

"Editors" at real publishing houses require years of experience before achieving that status. Those at Wikipedia are in many cases poor writers, who could never get such a position. If "editors" were called "volunteers" or "contributors" I believe that a large fall-off of edits would occur.

The term "administrator" similarly provides a sense of importance to these individuals, many of whom are unemployed and unemployable. Calling them, again, "volunteers" or "contributors" would lead to a large fall-off of edits.

==Your donation will indirectly fund Wikia, Inc., which is not a charity.==
Your non-profit donation will ultimately line the for-profit pockets of Jimmy Wales, Amazon, Google, the Bessemer Partners, and other corporate beneficiaries. How? Wikipedia is a commercial traffic engine. As of October 2011, there are over [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:LinkSearch&limit=5000&offset=25000&target=http%3A%2F%2F*.wikia.com 29,000 external links] from Wikipedia to Wales' Wikia.com sites, which are funded by Google AdSense revenues and custom advertising deals. These links are still being added to Wikipedia at the rate of over 500 per month. Did you know that Amazon invested $10,000,000 in the for-profit Wikia venture? It's therefore rather interesting that Wikipedia tolerates [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:LinkSearch&limit=5000&offset=75000&target=http%3A%2F%2F%2A.amazon.com over 76,000 links] to Amazon's retail site from the supposedly non-profit, no-advertising, anti-spam Wikipedia site. Isn't it? Meanwhile, did you know that the popular movie site IMDB.com is owned by Amazon, and you can buy Amazon products directly from IMDB pages? Well, surprise surprise -- there are [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:LinkSearch&limit=5000&offset=285000&target=http%3A%2F%2F%2A.IMDB.com over 285,000 links to Amazon's IMDB site] from Wikipedia. No wonder Amazon particularly wished to invest in Wikia, Inc. Its co-founder helps insure that the external linking environment on Wikipedia is hospitable for the Amazon link spamming!

When Wales isn't enjoying all the link traffic to his for-profit site, he's actually actively in the process of self-dealing the volunteer community's labor into an exclusive content package for his own site. How? Well, take for example the fact that there was a Klingon language wiki hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Wales then ordered it to be [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2005-August/023607.html shut down]. Where did it spring up again? On his Wikia, Inc. servers, of course!

Now here is the really fascinating thing. If you go to Jimmy Wales' "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales talk page]" on Wikipedia, and you ask him whether he feels that either this act of theft of the Klingon wiki or the extraordinary number of links to his for-profit site and those of his investors might be a ''conflict of interest'' or ''self-dealing'', Jimbo won't even have time to respond. One or two of his loyal followers will fairly promptly dismiss or erase your message; and if you try one more time to ask this question, you're likely to get blocked from editing Wikipedia altogether. Go ahead, try it! If Jimmy answers the question and allows discussion on it, MyWikiBiz will donate $25 to the Wikimedia Foundation.

If these facts are not enough to convince you that money makes its way through the back door to Wikia, Inc., then perhaps a look [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049340.html at the front door] is in order. The Wikimedia Foundation announced in January 2009 that it was to begin paying rent to Wikia, Inc. on a monthly basis, using tax-advantaged funds from the Ruth and Frank Stanton Fund. Did Wikia offer the lowest-priced rent solution to the Wikimedia Foundation? Not at all! After a [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049345.html frantic] back-and-forth [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049354.html attempt] by different [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049360.html agents] of the Wikimedia Foundation to [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049411.html explain] how this [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049389.html level] of [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049391.html self-dealing] was [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-January/049393.html allowed to happen], Wikia's CEO Gil Penchina finally revealed (a year later, January 4, 2010) in a personal e-mail:

<blockquote>''They <nowiki>[the Wikimedia Foundation]</nowiki> approached us and asked if they could rent space on a temporary basis.. and I think it ended up being 4-6 months give or take. I thought about giving it to them for free and I wasn't sure which was worse... getting accused of bribing a non-profit for giving it away, or getting accused of stealing for a non-profit for charging... so we ended up asking them to get competitng (sic) quotes from other landlords so that THEY could feel comfortable with the decision.''</blockquote>

First there is a request to rent space from a hand-picked bidder, and only ''then'' a suggestion to get competing bids from other landlords? It sounds like someone at the Wikimedia Foundation wanted to make sure that Jimmy Wales' for-profit company had the inside track on that bid, worth many thousands of dollars. (Wikia would [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/wikia-deletes-ceo-gil-penchina replace its CEO] in 2011.)

Meanwhile in August 2009, Matt Halprin, [http://www.omidyar.com/team/matt-halprin Partner of the Omidyar Network], was asked to join the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. Halprin is charged with an Omidyar team that "pursues investments in Social Media", and Omidyar invested part of $4 million into Wikia, Inc. in 2006. So, his company succeeds if Wikia makes a nice return on investment. It looks very fishy to have a new Wikimedia Foundation board member who's a partner at a firm that invested some portion of $4 million into the privately-held firm of the "Emeritus Chair" of the Foundation. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to explain how this is just a "coincidence", being that there were probably more than a thousand other equally-qualified stars of social media who could have been selected, who have not a single tie back to funding Wikia, Inc. What are the odds? At the Wikimedia Foundation, the double-dealing simply defies the laws of probability.

==The Wikimedia Foundation's leadership leaves much to be desired.==
* '''Jimbo Wales''', ''Chairman Emeritus'' - Hired a [http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ratcliffe/wikipedia-why-does-essjay-need-to-protect-himself/271 liar] using the nickname "Essjay", then told the press he "didn't really have a problem with it"; showed little fiscal economy when discussing [http://valleywag.gawker.com/365219/modest-frugal-jimmy-wales-flies-first+class airfares to Korea]; not to mention his [[Criticism of Jimmy Wales|other transgressions]].
* '''Sue Gardner''', ''Executive Director'' - Admits to awarding [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/wikimedia-foundation-director-admits-to-sweetheart-contracts sweetheart contracts], against her own policies on disbursements.
[[Image:Erik_Moeller_and_James_Forrester_at_Wikimania_2007.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Erik Moeller (left) at a Wikimania conference]]
* '''Erik Moeller''', ''Deputy Director'' - Has held some extremely [http://www.cydeweys.com/blog/2008/05/08/erik-moller-wmf/ uncomfortable public views] about child pornography and pedophilia.
* '''Angela Beesley''', ''Chair of the Advisory Board'' - Routinely edits the Wikipedia article about Wikia, the company she co-founded with Wales, and adds external links to Wikia, all against Wikipedia community guidelines.
* '''Mike Godwin''', ''former lead counsel'' - Before mysteriously [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/wikipedia-s-top-attorney-says-goodbye disappearing from] the WMF, Godwin attempted to edit Wikipedia anonymously, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest/Noticeboard&oldid=260671486#Mike_Godwin_editing_Wikipedia_with_a_COI against community guidelines] that discourage self-promotion.

==Wikipedia is more a roleplaying game than an encyclopedia.==
While Wikipedia is disguised as an encyclopedia, it is actually nothing more than a fluid forum where ultimate editorial control belongs to a corps of administrators, most of whom act without real-world accountability because they don't reveal their real names, locations, and potential conflicts of interest -- even though they will not hesitate, through "complex investigations", to "out" the real names, locations, and perceived conflicts of interest of other, non-administrative editors. Why give your real-world dollars to a virtual-world multi-player forum? Have you made your donation to Second Life, too?

==Small donations make Wikipedia irresponsible.==
Having over 100,000 small donors funding more than 60% of a non-profit's income actually reduces accountability to the donors. Because the donations are very small (about $30, on average), no one has sufficient influence over the Wikimedia Foundation to reach a threshold of accountability. On the other hand, large institutional giving, large gifts by wealthy individual donors, and government grants all facilitate accountability. Embarrassing scandals, vandalism to biographies about living persons, and lack of proper concern for children can be shaken off like water off a duck's back when raised by micro-donors. Not so when a foundational grant, ultra-affluent person, or government agency have a larger stake on the line. So, if you plan to contribute less than $5,000 to the Wikimedia Foundation, you would better encourage more accountability by donating that money instead to another organization, and let them determine if the Wikimedia Foundation is an ethical investment or not. Do you want to be the next Fritz Thyssen, Albert Vögler, or Emil Kirdorf?

==They don't get the job done.==
There have been a number of Wikipedia projects or initiatives that have been launched with at least some fanfare and/or promise that they are important and that they will be carried out.

''But then they fail.''

Some examples:
* The [http://brianna.modernthings.org/article/213/reflections-on-pgip-phase-1 Greenspun illustration grant] was received, but less than 10% of it was disbursed properly.
* In August 2010, an [http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-58002-Wiki-Edits-Examiner~y2010m8d3-Wikijunior-took-the-money-but-no-books-printed investigative news report] revealed that years ago the Wikimedia Foundation accepted $25,000 in grant money from the John and Frances Beck Foundation. The money was supposed to have been used to print short booklets about different subjects appropriate for 7- to 12-year-old children. However, not a single dollar from this grant was actually spent on printing books for this special project. And the Wikimedia Foundation ''refuses to talk'' about what did happen to the money. All we know is that the Beck Foundation says, "we no longer support Wikipedia, Wikimedia, or Wikijunior...". Where do you think the $25,000 [http://www.mywikibiz.com/File:Captain_Jimbo.jpg went]?
* We are still waiting for Flagged Revisions implementation (now renamed "Pending Changes") on English Wikipedia (a [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Flagged_revisions/Sighted_versions&diff=prev&oldid=154463978 dream] since August 2007, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=prev&oldid=261790016 suggestion] since January 2009, a Foundation-level [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=prev&oldid=265584048 proposal] since January 2009, and a call to [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Advisory_Council_on_Project_Development/Forum&diff=prev&oldid=302095508 raise hell] if not implemented by September 25, 2009).
* [http://knol.google.com/k/will-johnson/wikivoices-episode-45/4hmquk6fx4gu/378# Release of Episode 45] on Wikivoices is permanently suppressed. (So volatile an issue, we are [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Wikivoices&diff=next&oldid=316384628 forbidden] to even discuss it on Wikipedia.)
* WMF staff member Rand Montoya's 2009 Fundraising Survey never launched in 2009. Repeated requests for status updates went ignored for several months. Even a Foundation-level inquiry has been [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-December/056376.html met with silence]. Montoya left the Foundation in mid-2010, the Fundraising Survey still unlaunched.
* A [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=2902 quality, not quantity] drive in 2006, as well as the post-Essjay "[http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=7090 Credentials Verification]" boondoggle of 2007 were announced to great fanfare in the tech media, but once Jimbo Wales and his crew got the public relations boost they wanted, the initiatives themselves just vanished.
* A WikiProject of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Lists_of_topics topic lists] has existed since November 2007, but it is still half unfinished.
* A call in January 2010 to diminish over 50,000 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Unreferenced_Biographies_of_Living_Persons entirely unreferenced biographies] of living people down to a more manageable 20,000 by September 1, 2010 has met with failure. A full month after that milestone objective, over 24,000 biographies of living people still lurk on Wikipedia with not so much as a single reliable source to back up the content. To their credit, after yet another 14 months of work, the list was finally whittled down to less than 200.

Indeed, in a way, all those big donations that [[Directory:Wikimedia_Foundation/Grand_Donors|overly generous donors]] contributed have missed the target completely. To paraphrase [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=28967&view=findpost&p=227814 one insightful observer], '''it is not the Wikimedia Foundation that makes the Wikipedia, it is the editors'''. Giving money to the WMF is like leaving a gratuity for a cotton plantation owner because you like the quality of work the slaves are doing. Giving the slave owners an even bigger carrot to dangle over the heads of the worker donkeys who are ultimately going to feel the stick, not taste the carrot. It's irresponsible use of money; unethical.

Where the money needs to go is exactly where the Foundation will not put it -- into quality copy-writing tutoring and services, as well as expert content adjudicators. Not to mention a healthy dose of political lobbying "on wiki" to rein in the more radical of the "free culture" zealots who think absolutely nothing of blocking tens of thousands of British users of the site, just to be able to proclaim as "art" [http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/12/wikipedia-block/ exploitative nude child photography] used in service of a mediocre metal rock band. Indeed, the Foundation recently [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/wikimedia-foundation-rules-on-naughty-bits paid a consultant] to count how many photographs of Caucasian penises reside on Wikimedia servers. That's where their priorities are.

Surely, even the largest donors have never actually thought this through and never examined Wikipedia closely enough. They probably don't realize that the Wikimedia Foundation has nothing to do with the creation of content, that the content happens ''despite'' their involvement, not because of it. No, many fat donors simply received a polished and glossy public relations briefing with lot of juicy statistics that seduced them into making their bloated donation to the Wikimedia Foundation, who will simply stuff 50 cents of every donated dollar into a very fat bank account.

The money doesn't help Wikipedia improve. At all.

==Wikipedia is a NSFW site lacking child-protection standards.==
[[Image:Our_favorite_Wikipedia_image.jpg|thumb|175px|An actual free Wikimedia image. "Now, Miss, where is that donation?"]] Perhaps you're philosophically opposed to any form of censorship and think this is a daft point. Can you be sure that your shareholders, your customers, and the members of your local school board feel the same way? Wikipedia contains graphic material that might be morally contemptible in many countries -- even in the West. This includes images and articles depicting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipple_piercing nipple piercings], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anilingus anilingus], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labia_piercing labia piercings], child <s>pornography</s> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_erotica erotica], various [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenum_piercing forms] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafada_piercing piercing] the penis, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strappado_bondage strappado bondage], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_spanking erotic spanking], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest_pornography incest pornography], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smotherbox smotherboxes], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Cummz Courtney Cummz] and her directorial debut 'Face Invaders'. (For more examples of Wikipedia trash, see [[Worst of Wikipedia]].)

It's not like Wikipedia is being asked to fully censor this content -- just show some self-restraint and perhaps flag it so that minors and other people who may be offended would have to exercise one additional click to view it. But, that seems to be too much to ask of the free-wheeling "free culture movement".

Imagine notifying a permanent board member of an organization that he founded with the following message:

<blockquote>''<nowiki>[We have learned...]</nowiki> that wiki administrators under the age of 18 are taking routine administrative actions in respect of images which could reasonably be described as pornography (in [http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Masturbating_Amy.jpg&diff=prev&oldid=31818520 this case], the administrator Julian C. is a self identified minor, and the image (which will appear if you click the link) is of a woman masturbating -- the file is called 'Masturbating Amy'. I'd like to see some external advice sought on this matter, and I'd like to see <nowiki>[[</nowiki>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Child_protection Wikipedia:Child protection]<nowiki>]]</nowiki> grow to contain some meaningful ideas for consideration.''</blockquote>

Then, imagine the founder of the non-profit, tax-advantaged organization [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=332094768&oldid=332088177 responding]:

<blockquote>''Hi privatemusings, yes, I'm aware of discussions in this area.--[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales Jimbo Wales] 18:57, 16 December 2009 (UTC)''</blockquote>

The Wikimedia Foundation doesn't care about doing the least thing to protect children. That's the responsibility of parents! Imagine dropping off your young teenager to volunteer with some friends at the soup kitchen one morning, then one of the homeless men starts showing the youngster centerfolds from Hustler magazine. When you discover this, you go to the kitchen's director, and he says, "Yes, I'm aware of problems in this area," and then [http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/99/navigator990218.htm his lawyer says], "I think if parents want to restrict children's access to adult material, that's fine... <nowiki>[but don't]</nowiki> infringe on either adults' rights or minors' rights."

So, if you wish to support young boys administering pornography on a non-profit website, get out your checkbook and send $69 to the Wikimedia Foundation. Hey, what do you expect from an organization that hired as its Deputy Director a young man who promoted the notion during a [http://mashable.com/2008/05/08/erik-moeller-pedophilia/ scandalized] lecture [http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/4/4158/1.html about child pornography] that in the context of children, non-violent porn does no harm ("Gewaltfreie Pornographie schadet nicht")?

==Wikipedia is in a legally precarious position.==
[[Section 230]] was designed to protect Internet service providers from libelous content generated by customers and re-distributed by the ISP. The Wikimedia Foundation has hidden behind this protection by claiming that it, too, is an "interactive computer service". We all know it's not, and one day, libel published on Wikipedia is going to lead to a courtroom test. Unaccountable administrators are given the "Oversight" capability to make problematic content literally "disappear", and the Foundation hopes that the warrant of these administrators is never traced back to their offices. For more on the history of noteworthy libel against innocent parties on Wikipedia, please look up the cases of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigenthaler_incident John Seigenthaler], of [http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-caught-in-the-deadly-web-of-the-internet-445561.html Taner Akcam], and of [http://www.itwire.com/content/view/9913/53/ Fuzzy Zoeller].

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==Wikipedia is unpredictable, inaccurate, and unmanageable.==
Wikipedians have leaned on a so-called study by ''Nature'' magazine that supposedly proved Wikipedia's accuracy rivaled that of Encyclopedia Britannica. Even though the study was [http://news.cnet.com/Belatedly,-Britannica-lambastes-Wikipedia-findings/2100-1025_3-6053754.html faulty to the core], it still showed if you look only at scientific topics, and if you ignore the structure and clarity of the writing, and if you treat all inaccuracies as equivalent, then you would still conclude that Wikipedia is [http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/02/community_and_h.php about 32% less accurate] than Encyclopedia Britannica.

In other research, the 100 articles about the hundred United States Senators [[Wikipedia Vandalism Study|have been shown]] to render erroneous, if not libelous, information about '''6.8% of the time'''. The Wikipedia leadership have been promising for over two years that a systematic fix for this kind of garbage (called "flagged revisions") is always just around the corner. It is time to [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=22057&hl= call the Wikipedia leadership on their obfuscation].

== See also ==

* [[Directory:The_Wikipedia_Point_of_View|The Wikipedia Point of View]]
* [[The Six Rotten Pillars of Wikipedia]]
* [[Criticism of Jimmy Wales]]
* [[Wikipedia scandals]] (see also [[Wikipedia Vandalism Study]])
* [[Wikipedia Vandalism]]
* [[Directory:The Wikipedia Point of View/Wikimoney-a|Wikimoney-a]]
* [[Nationalistic Editing on Wikipedia]]
* [[Directory:Josip Broz Tito and Wikipedia| Wikipedia's bias towards Dictator Josip Broz Tito and Communist Yugoslavia]]

==External links==
* [http://www.examiner.com/wiki-edits-in-national/gregory-kohs Examiner.com news] exposing the Wikimedia Foundation
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger Who is Larry Sanger?]
* [http://wikipedia-watch.org Wikipediawatch tells it like it is, follow all the cool links!]
*[http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/depress.html Wikipedia depression]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Filll/Disgusted Disgusted] - vote-rigging in Wikipedia elections.
* ''[http://knol.google.com/k/david-blomstrom/wikipedia/1i6e04re3w2kp/5# Wikipedia: The Online Reference Anyone Can Edit]'' (David Blomstrom ).
* ''[http://knol.google.com/k/carl-hewitt/corruption-of-wikipedia/pcxtp4rx7g1t/5# Corruption of Wikipedia (http://wikicensored.info)]'' (Carl Hewitt)
* [http://wikipediareview.com/blog/20080104/criticisms-of-wikipedia Criticism of Wikipedia] by "Gomi" of Wikipedia Review.
* [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=22070 Jimbo Wales Unilaterally Cashiers WMF's Section 230 Immunity, Declares Course Materials in Applied Ethics "Beyond Scope" of Project] by Moulton of Wikipedia Review
* [http://wikipediareview.com/blog/20080229/sam-vaknin-wikipedias-six-cardinal-sins Wikipedia’s Six Cardinal Sins] by Sam Vaknin

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

 
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[[Keyword::Wikipedia scam]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia sham]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia boondoggle]]
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[[Keyword::Wikimedia hoax]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia porn]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia ethics]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia scam]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia sham]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia boondoggle]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia fraud]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia sleaze]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia porn]]
[[Keyword::Wikimedia ethics]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia donors]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia statistics]]
[[Keyword::Who donated Wikipedia]]
[[Keyword::Wikipedia donate]]
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</div>
 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

Center for Computational Astrophysics

2011-12-19T22:37:48Z

CleteGolden:

{{Infobox Nonprofit
| nonprofit_name = Center for Computational Astrophysics
| nonprofit_logo = [[Image:GalaxiesCollidejpg.jpg|240px]] ''The pair of near-colliding galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163. Cover photograph from “Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy” (Springer Business+Media).Hubble Space Telescope photograph, courtesy of [[NASA]]/European Space Agency|ESA]].''
| nonprofit_slogan =
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| founder =
| location = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]],
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}}

The '''Center for Computational Astrophysics''' (CCA) is a research organization in Oak Park, [[Illinois]], whose staff performs research into current areas of astronomy and applications of probability, statistics, and Monte Carlo simulations into other areas of inquiry. With a staff of retired professors from the Chicago area, CCA is the home base for the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]], a world-wide network of amateur astronomers and small observatories involved in the discovery and determination of the orbits of near-earth asteroids, or more generally near-earth objects, with possible earth-crossing orbits. Its staff also authors textbooks in astronomy<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/07/dr-les-golden-receives-book-contract-from-springer-publishers/</ref> and popularizes issues in astronomy with the media.<ref>(2005) Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref>

==Founding==
CCA was founded in 1997 by its current director, astronomer Dr. [[Les Golden]], a retired astronomy and physics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” UIC News (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2</ref>

==Current Research==
CCA coordinates the efforts of a world-wide network of volunteers and performs data reduction and orbital position determination for near-earth objects discovered by the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project. Its associates have published papers in game theory,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” The Mathematical Scientist, 32, 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” Bluff Europe, April, p. 92-93</ref> internet traffic,<ref>Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008), “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” iGaming Business, March/April, p. 16-17</ref>, and random number generators.<ref>Turner, Noah; Golden, Les; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” iGaming Business, July/August, p. 56-59</ref>

==References==
<references />

==External References==
[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden Principal Investigator]
[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden Background]
[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden Background]
[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden Principal Investigator]
[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project N.E.A.R.]
[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Near_Earth_Asteroid_Reconnaissance_Project N.E.A.R.]