If you’re not voting for Obama because of the abortion issue. Check out this link
http://www.prolifeproobama.com/

If you’re still not sure on who to vote for look at these web sites.
The first one is concerning taxes between Obama and McCain. I plugged my numbers in and under Obama I’m getting an almost 2000 tax cut, under McCain its $0.00.
http://taxcut.barackobama.com/

Concerning Health Care there are some major differences. Both candidates are changing the health care system. Obamas gives us protection under the new changes, whereas it seems McCain does not. Its spelled out here.
www.familiesusa.org/election-2008/mccain-vs-obama-health-plan.html

1) Your options for going out passed eleven pm include:

-Steak and Shake

-Wal Mart

-Sheetz

-Denny’s

2) You went to high school with someone who lives close to one of the band members from Relient K.

3) Your parents went to high school with or dated someone who went to high school with Marilyn Manson.

4) You spend an extra ten minutes driving around downtown just because you missed one turn.

5) You slow almost to a stop on the highway because of construction.

6) You’ve had Macy Gray’s mom in class.

7) You refuse to wear the colors orange and black, even around Halloween.

You drive all of the way through the park just avoid construction.

9) You’re not even a football fan but somehow your life revolves around football.

10) You’ve wondered why there is a North Canton, Canton South, and East Canton but no Canton West.

11) Your elementry school field trips included going to Aultman Hospital, The Canton Museum of Art, The Football Hall of Fame and The Natatorium.

12) You lock your doors because you anticipate driving passed mini-ghettos, such as Highland Park, for two minutes.

13) You can’t drive all of the way down a road because it randomly turns into a oneway.

Palin and Biden will debate tomorrow night. I am telling you that is going to be must see TV. Watch this clip of Palin talking to Katy Couric. When asked what newspapers she reads to stay current etc. Watch what she said. I actually feel bad for her because she is going to get eaten alive tomorrow night in the debate. The video probably goes overboard in ridiculing her at the end. I think choosing her was the worst mistake of McCain’s career because if McCain were to die she would be in charge, and she can’t answer a simple question?? The fact that she could be be in charge one day seriously scares me. Right now the president we have is very ignorant, if she got in we would have blatant incompetence I don’t know which one scares me more.

Watch this video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBO_YungPjU

Obama has put up a web page describing what he will do to kick start our economy.
I’m putting the basics here in this posting if you want to read further go to:
my.barackobama.com/page/s/economyplan

Bring about real change to our economy

$1,000 Tax Cut for Middle Class American Families
Obama and Biden will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families, because the economy needs to be revitalized from the bottom up, not top down. Read more »

Energy Rebates
Obama and Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. Read more »

Create Jobs through Fair Trade
Obama and Biden believe that trade with foreign nations should create American jobs, not send them overseas. They will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security. Read more »

Create 5 Million Green Jobs
Obama and Biden believe that we should invest in innovation and manufacturing jobs in the growing clean energy market, freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil within a decade and creating 5 million green jobs. Read more »

New Jobs Through National Infrastructure Investment
Obama and Biden believe that rebuilding our highways, bridges, roads, ports, air, and train systems will create jobs, ensure safety, and bolster our long-term competitiveness. Read more »

Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs
Obama and Biden will increase federal support for research, technology and innovation for companies and universities so that American workers can lead the world in cutting edge jobs and products. Read more »

Support Small Business
Obama and Biden will level the playing field for small business by eliminating all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses. Read more »

Labor
Obama and Biden will strengthen the ability of workers to organize for good wages, healthcare, and secure pensions. Obama and Biden will fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Obama and Biden will ensure that labor appointees support workers’ rights and will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. Obama and Biden will also increase the minimum wage and make sure it remains a real wage year over year. Read more »

Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
Obama and Biden will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. They will make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and they will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners. Read more »

Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
Obama and Biden will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in credit card borrowing. They will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices. Read more »

Reform Bankruptcy Laws
Obama and Biden will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, to ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and to require disclosure of all pension investments. Read more »

Work/Family Balance
Obama and Biden will help working families by doubling funding for after-school programs, expanding the Family Medical Leave Act. They will provide low-income families with a refundable tax credit to help with their child-care expenses, and encourage flexible work schedules. Read more »

Check out these two links to SNL’s take on these events.

www.hulu.com/watch/36863/saturday-night-live-couric–palin-open

www.hulu.com/watch/36866/saturday-night-live-presidential-debate

These people built a house in Galveston to withstand a Category 5 Hurricane.
After Ike hit look whats left!!

www.ireport.com/blogs/ireport-blog/2008/09/18/the-last-house-standing”> src=’http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/18/two.irpt.jpg’ alt=” class=’alignnone’ />

www.ireport.com/blogs/ireport-blog/2008/09/18/the-last-house-standing

Watch these two links, McCain on the View facing tough questions.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/mccain-grilled-on-the-vie_n_125972.html

www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/15/the-view-debriefs-on-mcca_n_126497.html

I don’t know how many know about this, but it seems that John McCain left his wife after getting back from the POW camp. She had been disfigured. Read the link below to get the story.

Here’s a snippet:
“…when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. Her car had skidded on icy roads into a telegraph pole on Christmas Eve, 1969. Her pelvis and one arm were shattered by the impact and she suffered massive internal injuries.”

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html

Here is a 2nd Link:
www.usvetdsp.com/mcaindiv.htm

Barack Obama’s Health Care Policy

Barack Obama’s plan for better health care in America is to provide quality, affordable and portable coverage for all. He plans to make available a new national health plan to all U.S. citizens, which will include the self-employed and small businesses. Some of the features his plan include:

Guaranteed Eligibility. This will allow sick people (with recent and pre-existing conditions) to obtain health care.
Comprehensive Benefits. This is similar to the package offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It will cover all necessary medical services, which include preventive, maternity and mental health care.
Affordability. There will be lower premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
Simpler paperwork and reined in health costs.
Public Plan with simple enrollment and ready access to coverage.
Portability and Choice. People enrolled in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange (another Obama plan) will be able to move from job to job without jeopardizing insurance coverage.
Quality and Efficiency. The health insurance companies participating in the new plan will be required to report data to ensure that standards for quality are met.

———————————————————————-

John McCain’s Health Care Plan
John McCain intends to increase the variety and affordability of health insurance to families in America by fostering innovation and competition.

This is how he plans to do so:
By reforming tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health coverage and providing everyone with a $2,500 tax credit; families will receive $5,000. This will increase incentives for health care coverage.
Allowing families to purchase health care insurance nationwide to maximize choices and heighten competition.
Providing multi-year coverage that moves with you from job to job and from home to home.
Requiring states with Medicaid to develop a financial risk adjustment bonus to high-cost and low income families that will supplement tax credits and funds for Medicaid.
Allowing people to purchase insurance through any organization or association of choice (i.e. churches, employers, individual purchases, and professional associations). The policy chosen will be available to small businesses and the self-employed; and will be portable across jobs. It will also automatically bridge the time between Medicare eligibility and retirement. Certification and rigorous standards would have to be met before plans are approved.

Why the League of Conservation Voters Endorsed the Democrats

The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States because of his record-setting plans for a clean energy future and his proven record as an environmental champion. As the party conventions highlight the differences between Senators Obama and McCain, LCV presents the Top Ten Energy and Environmental reasons why every American should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden on November 4:

Look to the future
Senator Obama offers the most comprehensive energy plan of any Presidential nominee in history, it will end our dependence on foreign oil and create as many as 5,000,000 jobs. Senator McCain’s plan continues the Bush Administration’s policy of appeasement to Big Oil, does nothing to reduce our dependence on oil, and isn’t as good as Paris Hilton’s.

You pollute, you pay
Obama and Biden support plan to make polluters pay for pollution credits and to clean up toxic waste. McCain wants us to foot the bill for clean-up and to give polluters billions in tax breaks and subsidies.

Keeping us healthy
Obama and Biden have fought to keep our air and water clean. McCain has voted against clean water ten times and voted six times to make it harder for states and the EPA to keep our air clean.

Listening to the scientists
The Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that America must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 in order to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Obama’s plan will reach that goal. McCain’s plan falls far short.

The record speaks for itself
Senator Barack Obama earned a lifetime environmental voting score of 86%. Senator Biden earned an 83%. Senator John McCain earned a 24% score.

Decisions are made by those who show up
In the last two years, John McCain missed EVERY SINGLE major vote on energy. One vital 2007 bill, to move billions of dollars in tax credits from the oil industry to wind, solar and other clean energy sources, failed by one vote: John McCain’s. Obama and Biden, also running for President, voted for it.

Saving money at the pump
Obama proposes to double the fuel efficiency of our cars in 18 years, reducing our oil consumption by at least 35% or 10 millions barrels per day. McCain voted against increasing fuel efficiency in 2003 and 2005. He missed the 2007 vote. Presumably, he ran out of gas.

We’re not alone
For more than 20 years, Joe Biden has been at the forefront of the fight against global warming. In 1986, he offered the first Senate bill to fight global warming pollution. Since then, he has been the Senate’s strongest voice for making America the international leader in reducing global warming pollution and exporting clean technology.

Higher standards
To create millions of new jobs, we must boost production of renewable electricity. Obama plans create 25% of our electricity from clean energy by 2025. McCain opposes any national renewable energy standard.

Judge him by his friends
Senator McCain accepted more than $2 million from the oil and gas industry, more than half of that since he changed his position on offshore drilling last month. His forthcoming plan to open America’s playgrounds and sandboxes to drilling is expected to net another $1.2 million.

– From the Daily Green (www.dailygreen.com)

Watch this video of
Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live last week.

www.hulu.com/watch/34465/saturday-night-live-palin–hillary-open

A President Like My Father

By CAROLINE KENNEDY
Published: January 27, 2008

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries,

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”

This link lists things that you can do to your home that will increase its value.

www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,1835812,00.html?xid=cnnhome

I’m providing everyone with official links here to read the issues on both candidates, and also voting records of the MAIN Presidential nominees. Look at their responses to major issues, and see how they voted on what is most important to you. After looking at both candidate’s voting records.. hmmf In my opinion, McCain seems definitely Republican.. all for the big business and taxation, with Obama voting for the people.

Obama / Biden

Issues: www.barackobama.com/issues/

Voting Record:
www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490
English as the Common Language S Amdt 1384 | YEA (For making English Official Lang)
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt 4803 | YEA
Alternative Energy SubsidiesS Amdt 1704 | YEA
Education Funding AmendmentS Con Res 83 | YEA To increase funding for Title I grants and reduce debt by closing corporate tax loopholes
Hurricane Victims Tax Benefit AmendmentS 2020 | YEA Tax Break for Hurricane Victims
Native American Funding AmendmentS Con Res 18 | YEA restore funding for tribal programs
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes |NAY
Immigration Enforcement and Border Fence AmendmentS Amdt 4231 | NAY

McCain/Palin

Issues : www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

Voting Record
www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53270
English as a Common Language |NAY (Against Making English official Lang)
Alternative Energy SubsidiesS Amdt 1704 | NV (Not Voting)
Hurricane Victims Tax Benefit Amendment |NAY - Tax breaks to Hurricane Victims
Native American Funding AmendmentS Con Res 18 | NAY - restore funding for tribal programs
Education Funding Amendment S Con Res 83 | NAY To increase funding for Title I grants and reduce debt by closing corporate tax loopholes.
GI Bill and Other Domestic ProvisionsS Amdt | NV
Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain CrimesS Amdt 1184 |NAY
Immigration Enforcement and Border Fence AmendmentS Amdt 4231 | NV (Not Voting)

I don’t know if you had a chance to watch Obama’s speech last night, but it was very good. Listen to it, it gives hope for this country. Lately things have looked bleak, but listen to his speech even if you have reservations about him. You might be surprised.

Follow the link below, and click on the link to view the acceptance speech.
www.demconvention.com/

It looks like Canton is officially on its way down. Look at the statistics gathered from the latest census. I’ve been telling Frances to start getting rid of those rentals, this report is a wake up sign. People are fleeing the city! Read the Article

www.forbes.com/2008/08/04/economy-ohio-michigan-biz_cx_jz_0805dying_slide_2.html?partner=yahoore

In working tech support we’ve all run into these kinds of issues.
Yes people are this stupid!!

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female customer: A white one…
===============
Customer: Hi, this is Celine . I can’t get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it’s really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn’t sound good; I’ll make a note.
Customer: No , wait a minute.. I hadn’t inserted it yet… it’s still on my desk… sorry….
===============
Tech support: Click on the ‘my computer’ icon on to the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?
===============
Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male customer: Hello… I can’t print.
Tech support: Would you click on ’start’ for me and….
Customer: Listen pal; don’t start getting technical on me! I’m not Bill Gates.
===============
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can’t print. Every time I try, it says ‘Can’t find printer’. I’ve even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can’t find it…
============== =
Customer: I have problems printing in red..
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah………………..thank you.
===============
Tech support: What’s on your monitor now, ma’am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.
===============
Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it’s plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can’t get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer: ! OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in.. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there’s another one here. Ah..that one does work…
===============
Tech support: Your password is the small letter ‘a’ as in apple, a capital letter V as n Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters ?
== =============
Customer: can’t get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I’m sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.
===============
Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech support: That’s not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry…Internet Explorer.
===============
Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.
===============
Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I’m writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter ‘a’ in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
===============
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: ‘No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine.’
===============
And last but not least…
Tech support: ‘Okay Bob, let’s press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter ‘P’ to bring up the Program Manager.’
Customer: I don’t have a P.
Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech support: ‘P’…..on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I’M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!

Today I discovered a useful site that helps you track your eating and fitness activities.
It doesn’t track weight watcher points, but instead it tracks, calories, fat, carbs and protien. It also will track how much water you drink, and your daily work out exercise. I tried going back to weight watcher and have had a hard time trying to get back into the same usual program. This site is free, besides tracking your eating and fitness it will track other things like your weight and how much water you drank. Take a look and see if its something you might find useful.

www.sparkpeople.com

Someone took some shots of a really sad dog hanging around Cafe’ Trieste in San Francisco.
Look at this poor pup.. he needs a friend. (CLICK ON THE PICTURE)

http://www.hemmy.net/2008/07/16/depressed-dog-on-the-street/

OMG tech support at its best!
If strong language offends you don’t watch it.

it-guy-vs-dumb-employees.html

www.break.com/index/it-guy-vs-dumb-employees.html

SALT LAKE CITY - The creator of a calendar that featured shirtless Mormon missionaries was excommunicated Sunday after a disciplinary meeting with local church leaders in Las Vegas.

Chad Hardy said he bears no ill will toward the council of elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I felt like I spoke my truth,” the 31-year-old entertainment entrepreneur said. “Bottom-line, they still felt the calendar is inappropriate and not the image that the church wants to have.”

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25667782/?GT1=43001

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2266900/Teenager-finds-baby-bat-in-her-bra.html#continue

See what happens when the Right Wingers get into power…
Prodi wasn’t very good, but Berlusconi is worse!

I am not a fan of gypsies.
God knows when I lived in Italy I stayed clear of them.
Its hard not to be weary of them with their track record, but the Fascist right is going to fingerprint them… Where are their rights? This is blatant discrimination.

“…law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
- Thomas Jefferson

Laws that are enacted to “protect” the majority, oftentimes lead to tyranny of the majority, and in the process the rights of all suffer. I am against any law that is “supposed” to protect the majority at the expense of the rights of a minority!

Read this article it is interesting.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2304675941

I came across this site where someone is compiling a web page showing the different Obama Bumper stickers by state. Looks like Obama might the only viable choice for me next November.
Just can’t see myself voting for McCain.

http://www.bumperactive.com/barack_obama_bumper_stickers.jsp

I just found the coolest sight that lets your plan out landscaping. Its powered using flash so it should work both in Internet Explorer and Firefox. Click below to take you to the site.

Stumbled across a website today that will send you all sorts of alerts from weather, to traffic,
to horoscope, news among other things. It will even let you schedule a wake up call and call your house phone if you want. It’s called alerts.com. Its pretty useful, take a look.

Contact Help has a search engine that will let you search for a company phone number and
get to someone who can help you.

For Example if you type Walmart in the search engine,
this is the info you get back:
Phone:
800-925-6278

How to reach a live person:
Press 2 at first prompt
Press 1 at second prompt
Press 1 at third prompt

Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri: 7am - 9pm
Sat: 9am - 9pm
Sun 12pm - 6pm
All time are CST

Ever wonder what ever happened to some of your favorite tv stars.

You can see a list Here of ex tv stars and where they are now.

Matt’s a guy who goes all over the world to dance.

CLICK HERE to see his video.

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

(Read More about Matt on His Website)

Watch the video

Thrown Out Check

The Telestroscope is an artistic landmark created by artist and inventor Paul St George that allows people in London to visually see people in New York and vice versa in real time. They can be found by the Thames near the Tower Bridge and the other on Fulton Ferry Landing by the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

The website publicizing his device claims that the mechanism works via a very long tunnel running through the earth’s crust with the images bouncing back and forth which not many would believe. A more realistic explanation of how it really work would be that it must be using optical fibers to provide high resolution video using a broadband Internet connection.

Check out 7 more pics of the Telectroscope New York-London visual link after the jump.

(From Hemmy.net)

OMG,
I made some of this bread just like they said to in the video.
It tastes just like the bread in italy. Just add a little more salt than the guy says to add in the video.
The bread comes out with a toasted hard outside and soft Casa recia center.
It took almost nothing to make either.
If you missed it go back and watch it, its worth it if you want good bread.

My friend Iris swears by this recipe. Swears that it comes out like the bread you buy in the panificio’s in Italy.

Recipe is:
3 cups of flour, 1.25 teaspoons of Salt, .25 teaspoon of yeast, 1.5 cups water.
Let raise 12 hours, cook at 500 degrees in covered pot in oven, after 20 min take off lid.

Watch the video here:
Bread Video

Introduction

Briscola is a trick taking game - that is, the object of the game is to take cards which gives you (or your team) a high score. It is popular win Italy and it uses the Italian 40 card deck. It is often played with Italian cards, which have suits of coins, cups, batons and swords, but you may play using a standard international 52-card deck, just by removing the Jokers, eights, nines and tens.

Briscola may be played with two, three, four or six players. There is a special version for five players, which is strongly recommended.
Rank and value of cards

In order to define which card wins a particular trick, we must first define a card ranking, given from highest to lowest:
ace, three, king, queen, jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.

Also, the cards have a point value:

ace: 11 points
three: 10 points
King: 4 points
Queen: 3 points
Jack: 2 points

The remaining cards have no point value.

As you see, the total value of cards in the deck adds up to 120 points. The player (or team) which scores at least 61 points in a game wins. Games can end in a draw when both reach the same point total (60), and usually Briscola is played to the best of three or five games.
Note on card order

When Italian suited cards are used, the picture cards rank in the order King (4 points), Cavallo (horse) (3 points), Fante (jack) (2 points).

Most books, when describing how to play Briscola with French suited cards (hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades) use the above card order King (4), Queen (3), Jack (2), which is normal in northern Italy. However, many players, especially in the south, reverse the role of the Queen and Jack. The card order is then Ace (11), Three (10), King (4), Jack (3), Queen (2), 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Two player Briscola

This is the easiest version of the game, and will serve as a basis for the multiplayer versions.

One of the two players shuffles the deck and deals three cards to each player. He then takes a card (the seventh, in this case) and puts it face up near the pile of undealt cards, which are placed face down. The face-up card suit defines which will be the Briscola suit for the game. The Briscola suit is the trump suit, i.e. the suit which always takes all other cards, card ranking notwithstanding.

The game starts. The first to play is the player to the right of the dealer. In the two player version, this means that the non-dealer (A) will start.

A leads one of his three cards, face up.

B plays one of his cards, and wins or loses the trick according to these three simple rules:

1. If B plays a card of the same suit as the card led by A, then the trick is won by whoever played the higher card - the winner takes both cards away, and puts them, face down, in a pile near him.
2. If B plays a card which has a different suit from the card which A led, but neither card is a Briscola (trump), A wins the trick, and the cards will go to A, even if B’s card was of higher rank.
3. If B plays a card of a different suit from A’s, and one of the cards is a Briscola (trump), then the player of the Briscola wins the trick.

Example (Briscola is the four of spades):

* Player A leads the 5 of clubs.
* Player B plays the ace of clubs. B takes the trick (Rule 1).

* Player A leads the 5 of hearts.
* Player B plays the King of clubs. Player A takes the trick (Rule 2)

* Player A leads the ace of diamonds.
* Player B plays 6 of spades (briscola). He wins the round (Rule 3).

Note that Briscola is unlike many card games, in that there is no obligation for the second player to play a card of the same suit as the first card or to trump it, just because he can. The second player is free to play any of his cards.

Note that if both players play a briscola, rule 1 dictates that the higher ranking card wins.

After each trick, each player draws a card from the pile of undealt cards, and the game goes on. The player who won the trick will lead to the next one.

Eventually the undealt cards will be used up, and one of the two players will have to draw the face up Briscola card. The game then continues, without drawing cards, until all the cards have been played.

At the end, each player takes the pile of cards he won in tricks during the game, and counts up the points according to the point scale shown above. The player with more points wins, or if each has 60, it is a draw.
Variation

Some people play that if the turned-up card, the one that indicates the trump suit, is an ace or a three (the two strongest cards), the card is put back in the middle of the deck and another card is turned up.
Four player Briscola

The game remains more or less the same, but the two pairs of players sit face to face, and each pair plays as a team, like in Bridge. Playing proceeds counter-clockwise.

When playing the 4 or 6 players versions, players should avoid talking about the cards they have in hand. However, some players use a system of signalling, using facial expressions to indicate what cards they have.

The player to the right of the dealer leads first. The other players may play ANY card (there is no requirement to follow suit). If no one plays a Briscola the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. If one or more players plays a Briscola, the highest Briscola wins.

Each player in turn, starting with the winner of the trick, then draws a card from the undealt pile. The winner of the trick then leads to the next one.

When the undealt cards are used up, the next player draws the Briscola card, and the game continues without drawing until all the cards have been played.

Example:

The players are A, B, C, D, placed around a table like this:

A
—–
D | | B
—–
C

A and C play together against B and D. A deals the cards. Briscola (the thirteenth card) comes up as a three of hearts.

* D, who sits counter-clockwise from A, plays first, and leads the 4 of spades.
* C plays the Jack of spades.
* B plays the two of hearts.
* If A does not play a higher Briscola, all four the cards will go to the D & B team.
* A thinks that for this meagre booty (the Jack is only two points, after all) it is not worth using a Briscola, or perhaps he does not have one; anyway, he plays the 5 of clubs.
* The trick is taken by the B & D team.
* B leads to the next trick.

Signals

One system of signals in use to indicate high Briscola cards is as follows:

Ace stretch the lips over the teeth
Three distort the mouth to one side
King glance upwards
Queen/Knight show the tip of the tongue
Jack shrug one shoulder

Six player Briscola

This works in the same way as the four player version. The two teams are made up of three players each:

A B C
———–
| |
———–
D E F

A, C and E play against D, B, F. The deck is reduced to 36 cards by taking away the two’s.
Three player Briscola

It’s played the same as the two player version, and the deck is reduced to 39 cards by taking away a 2. All three players try to gain the highest number of points.
Briscola Bastarda [Five player variant]

Briscola Bastarda (Bastard Briscola), also known as Briscola Chiamata (Call Briscola) is probably the most enjoyable version of this game. The base mechanics remain the same, i.e. object of the game remains to gain the highest number of points, a briscola suit exists and so on, but there are two important twists to the basic game.
The deal

All the 40 cards are distributed among the players. Each receives eight cards, so no cards remain on the table, and everyone sees from the start all the cards in his/her hand.
Bidding

Starting with the player to the right of the dealer, everyone in turn “declares” how many points he will probably score in the game, based on the cards he has in hand. Each bid must be higher than the previous one; a player who does not wish to bid higher can pass. A player who has passed cannot bid again during the auction. The bidding continues, for several rounds if necessary, until all the players except one have passed.

The highest bidder then “calls” the Briscola, i.e. decides which card will act as Briscola for the game. He declares which is the selected card to the other players. (Ace of clubs, for example). The called card identifies the briscola suit, but serves also to define which of the remaining players will team up with the first one: the three remaining players form a team which is opposed to the caller/holder pair.

The problem is that no-one, except the holder, knows which one of the players will team up with the caller.
Play

The actual play is the same as in a “traditional” Briscola game. The play continues until all cards have been played.

The holder should avoid revealing his identity until the time comes to play the called card. The other players should try to deduce which player is playing with the caller, and adjust their strategy accordingly.
Scoring

At the end of the game, points gained by the caller and by the holder are counted together.

If the total is equal to or more than what the caller declared before the game, he gets 2 points, the holder takes 1 points, and the three other players get -1 (negative) point each. If the total is less than the declared amount, the three players get 1 points each, while the caller loses 2 points and the holder 1 point.

At the start of the game, the players should agree how many points they will play to - usually 10-15 points. Further games are played until someone wins by reaching this total.
Additional Notes

The caller can, if he has an exceptionally good hand, call for a card he has in its own hand. This will gain (or lose) him 4 points, while his opponents still gain/lose 1 point each.

The game is extremely funny: players need to decide whose side the others are on, mainly by observing the cards played during a round (it’s forbidden to talk about the cards in one’s own hand, as usual). The holder should walk a thin line between gaining points for himself and his partner, while avoiding being discovered too soon.
Variation

Some people play a different method of bidding. Players state the rank of the Briscola they wish to call (e.g. ace, three, king, …), the objective being always to win at least 61 points. Each player in turn must pass or bid a lower rank than the previous bidder. So the bidding is won by whoever is prepared to call the lowest card. If someone bids “two”, the bidding can continue by other players offering to call a two and win more than 61 points, and then the player who was prepared to call a two and win most points would win the bidding.

Ingredienti: - gr . 400 di penne rigate o fusilli - 2 Zucchine - 1 bustina di Zafferano Aquilano - panna - pepe e sale q.b. -1spicchio d’ aglio rosso E

secuzione: Tagliate le zucchine a dadini e fatele soffriggere con olio extra vergine di oliva e uno spicchio d’aglio; quando le zucchine sono cotte aggiungete zafferano sciolto nella panna, lasciate sul fuoco un paio di minuti. Condite la pasta che intanto avrete cotto un po’ al dente e spolverate con parmigiano a piacere.

LONDON (AFP) - An ancient gold cup mysteriously acquired by an English scrap metal dealer is expected to fetch close to a million dollars at auction after languishing for years in a shoe box under its current owner’s bed.
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Owner John Webber says his grandfather gave him the 5.5-inch (14-centimetre) high mug to play with when he was a child, back in 1945.

He assumed the golden cup, which is decorated with the heads of two women facing in opposite directions, their foreheads garlanded with two knotted snakes, was made from brass.

But he decided to get it valued when he was moving house last year and was told it was actually a rare piece of ancient Persian treasure, beaten out of a single sheet of gold hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Experts said the method of manufacture and the composition of the gold was “consistent with Achaemenid gold and gold smithing” dating back to the third or fourth century BC.

The Achaemenid empire, the first of the Persian empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran, was wiped out by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.

Auction house Duke’s, in Dorchester, south-west England, will put the cup under the hammer on June 5, with an estimate of 500,000 pounds (630,000-euro, 988,000-dollars).

Webber, 70, told The Guardian newspaper that his grandfather had a “good eye” for antiques and picked up “all sorts” as he plied his trade in the town of Taunton in south-west England.

“Heaven knows where he got this, he never said,” he added, revealing that as a child, he used the cup for target practice with his air gun.

Rita I know you’re still watching it. - Here is info on Rose’s Home Town.

Info From Wikipedia

——————————————————————————————
St. Olaf, Minnesota is the surreal fictional home town of Rose Nylund of the American television sitcom The Golden Girls, created by Susan Harris. Rose would often talk about it by beginning a story with “Back in St. Olaf…”

During the show’s seven year run, St. Olaf was only seen twice in flashbacks and once when the girls visited during an episode in which Rose was nominated for St Olaf’s woman of the year award, ultimately winning a gold trophy, or rather, a milk chocolate trophy wrapped in gold colored foil. However, the town was nevertheless referred to in almost every episode through Rose’s protracted and comic anecdotes about its eccentric inhabitants, bizarre customs, and peculiar history.

Location

The town, according to Rose’s directions, can be reached by train from Minneapolis to Tyler’s Landing, changing at St. Gustav (St. Olaf’s sister city and dubbed “The City that Never Naps”) with the final leg completed by toboggan as the Express Service. You may also fly to St. Gustav, (Beaver Falls requires parachuting out of the plane above it) transfer to a train and then donkey cart service that takes 2-3 days. Additionally, a “Yokel Service” is available for those who wish to be entertained by a family of first cousins playing banjos. A notable attraction of the town is the statue of Blanche Devereaux in Mrs. Oleson Square, built after she decided not to bankrupt St. Olaf by cashing in World War II-era War Bonds issued by the town government to Rose and later purchased by Blanche.

St. Olaf is still occasionally mentioned by Garrison Keillor as the neighboring town to Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, in his weekly public radio show, A Prairie Home Companion (St. Olaf is also the name of a private liberal arts college in Northfield, MN). It is unclear whether or not Keillor sought permission to use the name.

Local Heroes, claims to fame, etc

* Henry Fjord, inventor of the Fjord Fjairlane
* Vidal Sasbogetoetter, local hair styling legend
* Heinrich Fendersteuhl, spot on grasshopper impersonator
* St. Olaf is the only town in the continental US that has both chapters of MENSA and GIRLSA located on the same street.
* Averted certain doom when Druid priests foiled the eruption of St. Olaf’s most active volcano by giving the town’s dumbest virgin her birthday whacks.

Language

St. Olaf’s unique vocabulary include humorous Scandinavian-sounding words to refer to very specific situations. Rose still used them on several occasions. Examples include:

* “Gerkanenaken”: The exact moment when dog feces turns white
* “Tutenbobels”: the cheeks of one’s rear end
* “Vanskapkaka”: A friendship cake
* “Hupaflagel Cake”: A souffle-esque cake that will fall if the slightest sound is made
* “Ugel and flugel”: Hide and seek for adults
* “Gugenspritzer”: Monopoly-like board game
* “GoWackaNoggin”: A baseball-like game where you just hit yourself on the head with a bat
* “Sverhoeven Krispies”: A tasty ancient Viking midnight snack with a horrible stench
* “Longenherden”: A horned Viking helmet
* “Fingerborg”: A thimble used in the game “Hide the Fingerborg”
* “Gafloeffen”: A desirable quality in a man that has no English equivalent. A license is required to carry one.

Local customs

* New residents were at one time welcomed by the town council with a customary gesture which involved gathering on the newcomer’s front lawn and singing songs while dressed in bedsheets. The tradition was retired after it induced a heart attack in Old Man Smith from Chattanooga, the town’s blacksmith, florist and “the town’s only black man”. After that the Town Council handed out peanut brittle instead, and passes to the local movie theater which they planned to build eventually.
* Other festivals include Pretzel Week, which is kick-started by a barn-dance; the Deep-Root Vegetable Carnival, where townsfolk bob for yams and guess the number of sweet potatoes in a jar; Hide the Corn Day, a day dedicated to hiding the corn; and Hay Day, when citizens gather to celebrate hay.
* During the Wheat Festival, Rose and her husband Charlie went dressed as a Sandwich and their daughter was conceived when they “forgot to put cheese between them”.
* When people marry in St. Olaf, the bride’s family fill a “Wedding Plate” with food and all the guests eat from it. Delicacies served may include Sverhoeven Krispies, an ancient Scandinavian midnight snack, which in spite of their abhorrent stench, apparently taste of a combination of cheesecake, strawberries, and chocolate ice cream. When the food is finished, the couple may begin their wedding night in, according to custom, either a tent or a Best Western motel. At this point the husband should offer himself to his wife on the Wedding Plate.
* In times of drought, St. Olafians, including those who no longer live in the town such as Rose, are encouraged to abstain from sex by the St. Olaf Department of Water and Coffee except for Ulf the Umbrella King who has suffered enough.
* After weddings, the newlyweds drive in a car with fish tied to the back, and the location where they can’t stand the pungent smell is the location where they will live. [1]
* The local doctor treated both the livestock and the people until he tried to neuter the Swenson twins. [2]
* Because of the confusion of facts by a grade school teacher, Mrs. Gunderson, about the difference between mustard and mustard gas, St. Olafians celebrate the 4th of July with a thin omelet on a bun.
* School habits are quite unusual according to Rose telling Dorothy about “The Day they taught everything”:

Rose: I don’t think lying is really a good idea. I once cut school and that proved very bad. Dorothy: Oh, Rose. We’ve all cut school. It couldn’t have been that bad. Rose: Oh, yes it was. That was the day they taught EVERYTHING. Dorothy: The final piece of the puzzle.

* Local culinary favorites include: Eggs Gefloeffen, Ham and Guntherhobbens, and Pigs in a Svingebloeten.

Real-life St. Olaf

There really is a township in Minnesota called St. Olaf, but it has been widely speculated that the origin of the fictional town comes from the fact that one of the show’s writers had attended Carleton College, St. Olaf College’s crosstown rival/neighbor in Northfield, MN.

May 16, 2008—A marble bust of an aging Julius Caesar—which may date back to 46 B.C.—has been found by divers in the Rhône River in southern France, officials say. The life-size sculpture (shown in a photo released this week) is etched with deep wrinkles and a balding pate.

The bust may be the oldest known representation of the famous Roman leader. Most known ancient sculptures of Caesar were created after his death.

Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other artifacts near the town of Arles, which was founded by Caesar in 46 B.C.

Among the ancient objects is a 5.9-foot (1.8-meter) marble statue of Neptune, dating to the early third century A.D.

Two smaller, bronze statues—each measuring 27.5 inches (70 centimeters)—were also found. One, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, originated in Hellenic Greece, the French Culture Ministry said in a statement.

“Some [of the discoveries] are unique in Europe,” French Culture Minister Christine Albanel said.

Researchers are trying to uncover “in what context these statues were thrown into the river,” Michel L’Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, said in a statement. The organization’s divers made the discovery between September and October 2007.

The site “has barely been skimmed,” L’Hour told the Associated Press, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.

He added that Arles—with its Roman beginnings—and the Rhône are “propitious” for future discoveries.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Photograph by C.Chary/DRASSM, Courtesy French Culture Ministry