Brain Farts: The Only Subsubzine With It’s Own Fragrance

By Jack “Flapjack” McHugh – jwmchughjr@gmail.com

(or just email Doug and he’ll send it to me)

Issue #55

I figure I’ll be out of my house by the end of the summer. I can’t afford to move, and I don’t really have anywhere to go but to my mom’s. I’m not happy with the living arrangements there so I may decide just to live out of my car. I’m still looking for a job. These interviews I go on are a waste of my time. I went to one where specific Cisco experience was one of the requirements. But of course they didn’t list that on the job, or tell me when they set up the interview, and that ISN’T on my skills list or my resume. So why the hell did they call me in? Did they think I had that skill but I was HIDING it, keeping it a secret? I think the next time I go on a job interview and find out they start asking me questions which are answered by my resume, proving they never looked at it, I’m just going to tell them to go fuck themselves and walk out. Oh, and every fucking time I go to the city I get a parking ticket.

Yes, I know my attitude sucks. The only distraction I have is Fantasy Baseball. And that’s simply depressing. I run three teams, and two of them suck. The only good team I run I co-own with Sackiepoo, and of course he makes most of the good moves and constantly reminds me that he should get the credit. Fucking whiner.

Thanks for all the support you haven’t shown me. I hope each and every one of you find a decaying rat the next time you bite into a jelly donut. No jokes, just pics, because I hate you.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #336

April 30, 2013

Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287, jfburgess of gmail.com

E-MAIL/WEB ONLY ISSUE! PDF will be available on the website.

Web Page Address: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

Some of you are still not on the E-Mail list for this szine, I keep trying to sign you up, please accept the offer! I am being a bit more systematic about that right now. I am going ahead and finishing all the games here, and then we'll see what happens.

This issue continues the szine/subszine inversion. As most of you know, this thing began as a ßubszine" to Terry Tallman's North Sealth, West George, then became its own szine with a host of subszines. The subszines remaining will appear as sub-subszines to our new flipflopped home in Doug Kent'sEternal Sunshine. Doug's incessant nagging is not keeping us on schedule, but will make it so we will charge forward and finish the remaining games that I have in here. After that, we'll see how it goes and what I do next. I'd like to keep writing and doing some game GMing. You all should see first what I actually do.

For production, in addition to the HTML's of each separate product on the web page, I will also have a PDF that you can print of the entire subszine (including my famous handdrawn maps!). You can just print the maps if you like, but remember maps are for pikers anyway, you don't need no steenkin' maps, keep them up in your head where they belong. I don't think there are very many people I owe money, but if you think I owe you money, just ask and I will pay. ONE GROUP that is definitely owed money is the players with NMR insurance. NMR insurance still continues, I will still call you for it, and when your game ends, I will refund the money.

General information about the mailing list is at: http://www.diplom.org/mailman/listinfo/tap You can sign up from there, or send E-Mails to: Tap-request of diplom.org; with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE LETTERS SECTION

((Let's keep talking about FTF tournament diplomacy! World DipCon is fast approaching in August 23-25 in Paris. See the WDC 2013 Facebook site or www.worlddipcon.com. At this point, I don't think I'm going to be able to go, but YOU all should. And I might still yet change my mind. This is going to be a pretty tremendous turnout, led by the inimitable Toby Harris...))

((For these and other upcoming cons around the world: http://devel.diplom.org/Face/cons/index.php))

Warren Goesle (Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:24:01 -0500)

Subject: That time again... ((Note that this all was before the season started....))

What if they gave a baseball season and Summer decided to not show up?

The good news is that it looks like we could be talking about the Bruins and Blackhawks well into June.

The bad news is that they might be able to play the Stanley Cup Finals in outdoor games at Wrigley and Fenway. Actually, given the Cubs' and Red Sox' predicted fortunes that might be good news.

So where do we start this year?

Goz, Warren.Goesle of Navistar.com

((OK, so what do I have to say about this year of baseball? I have always been a "the enforcement of the rules on PEDs are the enforcement of the rules" guy. I think the baseball writers are some of the most hypocritical lame writers on the planet if they won't vote for anyone for the HOF who they wrote positively on when they were playing and refused to see the glaring evidence in their faces. Within the power of the baseball writers was to force an end to the PED era. But they were enjoying the HRs too much. Period. Nevertheless, A-Rod's physical problems could not be happening to a more deserving guy, and you all saw where Manny is playing right? Yeah. Are PEDs out of baseball now? Of course not, though they are less pervasive, and it seems that those still using, like A-Rod, are mostly reaping the downside of PEDs. Yet, eternal optimist that I am, I really am looking forward to a great season of baseball this year! Who do I think will prevail?))

((AL East: I think this "love of the Blue Jays" is way out of line. Did they see how these players screwed up the other teams they were on before? But they still have enough talent to finish third. And the Red Sox don't have enough hitting, but they DO have enough pitching, the second best pitching in the toughest division in baseball, behind the Rays. So, that's the order. Rays, Red Sox (WILD CARD), Blue Jays, Orioles, Yankees, but only 13 games separating top to bottom in the division.))

((AL Central: Tigers, Indians (Yes, Tito IS a good manager), Royals, White Sox, and Twins are useless in last. The Tigers are the class of the American League and it will be fun with such great managers going up against each other. The Indians don't have the talent to win, but they have the talent to make it fun.))

((AL West: Rangers and then the Angels yet again, taking the second WC. The A's magic is only enough to be third. Then a big jump to the Mariners, and finally the Astros, who aspire to be the worst team in baseball again now, BUT watch out in three years.))

((Tigers and Red Sox go to the ALCS, and Tigers win.))

((NL East: Everyone thinks the Nationals go for it again, history suggests some regression to the mean and a WC spot. I really like the Braves team. So Braves, then Nationals, then Phillies, then Mets, and the other team that wants to be last, the Marlins, taking up the rear.))

((NL Central: Cardinals surprise and beat out the Reds, with both teams doing poorly enough so the Reds don't get the WC. Then Pirates, then Brewers, finally Cubs, another team playing for three years from now.))

((NL West: Giants, then Dodgers as WC, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies take up the rear.))

((Playoffs: Giants and Braves come through to play in NLCS, and the Giants win again as Tim Lincecum makes a brilliant comeback.))

((Giants repeat World Series.))

((A-Rod is waived by the Yankees, they keep paying people to try to get out of the basement and spend $300 million. Verlander and Lester vie for Cy Young in the AL, a Nationals pitcher does NOT win it in the NL, probably a Phillies pitcher wins it, if Lincecum doesn't. MVP is Miguel Cabrera in the AL, unless it is Longoria; NL I am tempted to take PED superstar Ryan Braun, but bet he gets injured and Bryce Harper surprises here.))

((I'm looking forward to it!))

Rick Desper (Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:19:28 -0700 (PDT))

You're picking the Yankees for last? ((Why not??)) Well I guess that's not as weird as picking the Blue Jays to finish ahead of and behind the Red Sox.((Yeah, I fixed that typo above.))

AL East: Rays, Yankees (WC), Orioles, Red Sox, Jays really, I have no idea.

AL Central: Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Royals, Twins

AL West: Angles, Strangers, Aaaas, Mariners

NL East: Nats, Braves (WC), others

NL Central: Reds, Brewers, Cardinals, bad teams

NL West: Giants, Dodgers, whatever

Jim is pretty badly wrong about the Nats, who have the best pitching in the NL. Strasburg should be able to give the team an entire season this year. Regression to the mean doesn't mean that the team with the best run differential should suddenly get worse.

((UPDATE at Press Time: As of this date, my predictions for the NL East are right on... we'll see how it goes for the rest of the season.))

OTOH, the Orioles are likely in trouble, since regression to the mean does mean that a team that won an unusually large number of close games is likely to lose more.

I'll randomly pick an Angels-Nats WS, that the Nats win.

The Red Sox are not going to make a huge comeback this year. Some of the pitchers should rebound under Farrell's management, but others won't, most notably Lackey, who is about five years removed from being a strong starter. But Lester and Buchholz will be good. Too bad they don't have any good young power hitters. Well, I suppose they had to let Adrian Gonzalez go to get rid of two hideous contracts (Crawford and Beckett).

Rick, rick_desper of yahoo.com

Warren Goesle (Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:30:37 -0400 (EDT))

So in a very unpredictable year it surprises me that my predictions really aren't all that different from either Rick or Jim-Bob. For a change I see a leveling of the playing field, and for a change I see a lot more teams in it. I did have to alter my philosophy of picking teams that spend the most money to picking the teams that spend the most money to players who will actually be playing, and playing for those teams paying them...

AL East: Sitting down? I think NEITHER the Yankees or Red Sox make the playoffs. In fact I think that, to their eventual detriment, the Yankees stay close enough in a very down division to NOT be sellers at the deadline, even though they should be. I'm not sold on the Blue Jays either, but I am on the Orioles. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto, NY Yankees, Boston. NO wild card from this division.

AL Central: Ok, it's Detroit and then everyone else. But some of those everyone else's aren't bad, Twins excepted. Detroit, Cleveland (WC), Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota. Royals get to 80-82 by losing their last 6 games, after being in it most of the year.

AL West: The Astros move took 4 wins away from each of the other NL Central teams and gave them to the AL West. They might have BOTH wild cards, but I'll take Los Angeles, Texas (WC), Oakland, Seattle, Lastros. Is that trademarked? Houston could break the record for futility this year.

NL East: I think the Nationals come together BETTER than last year, and might wind up with the best record after 162. Washington, Atlanta (WC), Philadelphia, NY Mets, Florida.

NL Central: The only division worse than the AL East. Cards are down, Brewers are down. Pittsburgh can't get enough wins without Houston. Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St. Louis (below .500), Pittsburgh, Chicago. My Cubs are better than last year's 61-101...so make it 67-95. Tell me about this Theo guy again?

((Yeah, well, we'll see, won't we?? We in Boston think we're doing just fine without Theo. I like him as a guy, but maybe he really isn't such a good GM?))

NL West: 3 legitimate WS contenders. Here I think the Giants take the dive far enough to miss the playoffs. Los Angeles, Arizona (WC), San Francisco, San Diego, Colorado.

ALCS: Tigers over Angels.

NLCS: Dodgers over Nationals.

WS: Detroit.

Goz, warrengoesle of wowway.com

Warren Goesle (Wednesday, May 1, 2013 1:26 PM)

Subject: Ok, so it was a bad idea to begin with

I put a Cubs' sticker on my laptop.

Now it won't Save or Close.

Goz, Warren.Goesle of Navistar.com

Dave Partridge (Wednesday, May 01, 2013 12:59 PM)

The choke on my car wasn't working so I put a Red Sox sticker on it.

Dave, rebhuhn of rocketmail.com

Warren Goesle (Wed, 1 May 2013 15:36:33 -0500)

< RIM-SHOT >

Goz, Warren.Goesle of Navistar.com

TEMPLECON 2013 REPORT

(First Round of Four Tournament Nor'Easter)

Thanks to everyone and to the great TempleCon hosts, I reserved two crash rooms this year for five people. I think having crash rooms is a really important part of helping travelers who come from a distance to the con.

FINAL RESULTS:

NAME

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Raw Total

Adj.

Final Total

Randy Lawrence-Hurt

110

26.32

20.34

156.66

Robert Rousse

15.09

12.96

31.58

35.59

95.22

-12.96

82.26

Bill Hackenbracht

33.33

22.81

15.25

71.39

Roland Cooke

26.42

7.41

8.77

15.25

57.85

-7.41

50.44

Colin Davis

33.33

Jim Burgess (TD)

15.09

7.41

22.50

Alex Amann

15.09

6.78

21.87

David Burgess

15.09

5.26

20.35

Carl Ellis

7.55

0.5

6.78

15.83

-0.5

15.33

Paul Camina

5.56

5.26

10.82

Will Abbott

5.67

0.75

6.42

Jim Burgess 2 (TD)

0.00

Daniel Feagans

0.00

Adam Sigal

0.00

Here are the game results with detour09 basic points in parentheses)

Round 1, Board 1

Austria (Jim Burgess TD):

(15.09)

England (Alex Amann):

(15.09)

France (Robert Rousse):

(15.09)

Germany (Carl Ellis):

( 7.55)

Italy (Will Abbott):

( 5.67)

Russia (David Burgess):

(15.09)

Turkey (Roland Cooke):

(26.42)

Round 2, Board 1

Austria (Adam Sigal):

10*

(0.00)

England(Randy Lawrence-Hurt):

11*

(110.00)

BEST ENGLAND

France (Will Abbott):

(0.00)

Germany (Alex Amann):

(0.00)

Italy (David Burgess):

(0.00)

Russia (Jim Burgess-2 TD):

(0.00)

Turkey (Daniel Feagans):

(0.00)

@Carl Ellis took over for Daniel Feagans in 1906.

Round 2, Board 2

Austria (Roland Cooke):

( 7.41)

England (Colin Davis):

(33.33)

France (Paul Camina):

( 5.56)

Germany (Jim Burgess TD):

( 7.41)

Italy (Robert Rousse):

(12.96)

BEST ITALY

Russia (Carl Ellis):

( 0.50)

Turkey (Bill Hackenbracht):

(33.33)

BEST TURKEY

Round 3, Board 1

Austria (Carl Ellis):

( 1.00)

England (Robert Rousse):

(31.58)

France (Randy Lawrence-Hurt):

(26.32)

BEST FRANCE

Germany (David Burgess):

( 5.26)

Italy (Roland Cooke):

( 8.77)

Russia (Bill Hackenbracht):

(22.81)

BEST RUSSIA

Turkey (Paul Camina):

( 5.26)

Round 4, Board 1

Austria (Robert Rousse):

(35.59)

BEST AUSTRIA

England (Roland Cooke):

(15.25)

France (Alex Amann):

( 6.78)

Germany (Bill Hackenbracht):

(15.25)

BEST GERMANY

Italy (Carl Ellis):

( 6.78)

Russia (Randy Lawrence-Hurt):

(20.34)

Turkey (Will Abbott):

( 0.75)

This is also the first tournament in the regional sub-Grand Prix tournament that is in its fifth year that we've dubbed the "Nor'Easter". The next tournament in that group is the new Philly Massacre in Philadelphia the first weekend of July; the new NYC/Brooklyn con in September; and Carnage, November 8-10 in Vermont, now at Killington. We will again have a First Place Nor'Easter prize to be awarded and with more help from Robert Rousse (Carnage co-organizer) we should have Second and Third Place prizes as well. More on that to come.

Drop Dead Time Deadlines: These worked like a charm as usually, this is the way to play tournament dip, you're always moving, no waiting around while people write orders. The games really moved along, I again used my loud voice with reminders to people as needed, and people respected other players' space with need for order writing time. And the atmosphere was great. I ended up going again with the 17 minute spring, 15 minute fall continually running clock that gives more time for beer after the games.

More experience on selling Diplomacy on site: I was still not as successful as I would like to be here. I was very careful to post notes on the game forums on the web site so that people knew we were there. These generated discussions but only one actual player. I did a lot of my usual tricks, trying direct E-Mails to Judge players and other players I could identify as being in the area, this again was not successful, but I will keep trying again. I didn't try walking around the Con playing Edi Birsan's Teaching Videos from You Tube again like I did a few years ago.... don't believe me, yes, I really, really did this a few times, but it didn't really gain anything but laughs, especially from the miniatures players, so I didn't do that this time around.

Although the TempleCon people are lovely, having TempleCon on SuperBowl weekend just doesn't get the travelers that it might. We all agree that an early year northeastern tournament is a good idea, but we wondered if we should have just held it ourselves outside of a gaming convention. We will continue that discussion as the year progresses.

Some time I'd like to run a DipCon or World DipCon, but that probably won't be able to be at TempleCon.

DIPLOMACY WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT IS ONGOING - YOU CAN STILL JOIN!

This is the latest incarnation of this team based tournament. I am helping to lead the Nor'Easter team for people in the Northeast part of the United States. https://www.facebook.com/groups/123795024327261/ is the Facebook page for the event.

And you can sign up for the Tournament at: http://aqmn.asciiking.com/. Other US regional teams are the ones in the Pacific, Dixie, and Chicago. Its unique aspect, that is proving to be a bit distorting but in interesting ways, is its "solo only" feature. You advance from the preliminaries to the finals only by soloing, and then need solos in the finals against the other soloists. Though this started in January, it probably will be going on for at least two years, and there is PLENTY of time to jump in. As usual, for those who know me well, I screwed up my first game and allowed a solo to someone from team US. I still don't have a solo in over three decades, but maybe I can do it in my next game.

So, really, come join, it is being operated on a web-assisted Judge platform that is really pretty easy to use. Ask me if you have any questions.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION

I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine. Since I'm not postal mailing the szine any more, I've dropped back to just reporting the disguised E-Mail addresses. As someone notes, if you need some more contact information, go back to past issues or ask me.

Standby lists:

Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Heath Gardner, Paul Kenny, and Jeff O'Donnell stand by for regular Diplomacy. Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF given the new policies.

GAME OPENING INFORMATION

I'm going to start the game opening list over. Under the new regime, who wants to play?

DIPLOMACY: First off, another regular Diplomacy game is open. Doug Kent and Brad Wilson are in, anyone else?

BREAKING AWAY: Also, a new Breaking Away game is open. Currently Andy York is on board. This is the game I really like running and want to start another one. It's easy, very low maintenance.

THE PHIL REYNOLDS MEMORIAL: 2006B, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1907 IS MAY 18TH, 2013

Pre-Fall 1907

AUSTRIA (Burgess): has f ION, a GAL, a VEN, a VIE, a TRI, f NAP, a SER, a BOH.

ENGLAND (James): has a DEN, f NTH, f TYH, f NWY, a HOL, f ROM, f SWE.

FRANCE (Williams): has a GAS, f MID, a BUR, f GOL, a MUN.

GERMANY (Ellinger): has a KIE, a BER.

ITALY (Crow): has f TUN, a PIE.

RUSSIA (Barno): has a SEV, a WAR, a SIL, a FIN, f CON, a PRU, f GRE, a RUM, f GOB.

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: David Burgess, burgesscd of roadrunner.com or dburgess of glensfallshosp.org

ENGLAND: Drew James, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com or karelanddrew of gmail.com

FRANCE: Don Williams, wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org ($5)

GERMANY: Marc Ellinger, mellinger of blitzbardgett.com

ITALY: John Crow, johnny.crow of hotmail.com

RUSSIA: Mike Barno, mpbarno of gmail.com

TURKEY: Fred Wiedemeyer, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

Game Notes:

1) I have orders from about half of you, I will follow up with people in the next week or so, so you will be sure what orders I have on file for you. I know some of you really wanted the maps and that's what you have with this issue.

Press:

SPIRALS OF PARANOIA: 2005A, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1910 IS MAY 18TH, 2013

Pre-Fall 1910

FRANCE (Jim Tretick for Buddy Tretick): has f ENG, f NTH, a GAS, f GOL, a BUR, f TYH,

f ION, a MAR, f LON.

GERMANY (Ozog for Tallman): has f KIE, a MUN, f HOL, a TYO, a PIE, a SER, a TRI,

a VEN, a ROM, f DEN, a APU, a BEL, f EDI.

ITALY (Kent): has a NAP, f ADR, a GRE.

RUSSIA (Sundstrom): has f NWY, f BLA, a UKR, f AEG, a RUM, a BUL, a CON, a SEV.

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, paul.rauterberg of att.net

ENGLAND: Fred Wiedemeyer, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

FRANCE: Buddy Tretick, 5023 Sewell's Pointe Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407

FRANCE: Temporary Standby is Jim Tretick, jtretick of gmail.com

GERMANY: Terry Tallman, ($2) terryt of whidbey.net

GERMANY: Temporary Standby is Eric Ozog, ElfEric of Juno.com

ITALY: Doug Kent, dougray30 of yahoo.com

RUSSIA: Matt Sundstrom, Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net

Game Notes:

1) We now have two medical replacements, as Buddy's son Jim (who some of us played with many years ago as James Alan) will be playing for Buddy as Eric is playing for Terry.

2) I have orders from about half of you, I will follow up with people in the next week or so, so you will be sure what orders I have on file for you. I know some of you really wanted the maps and that's what you have with this issue.

Press:

FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy

TURKEY WON, CONGRATULATIONS AL LEVINSON! SC CHART NEXT TIME

Supply Center Chart

ENGLAND (Kent):

EDI,LVP,LON,por,den,kie,

nwy,swe,ber,stp

FRANCE (McHugh):

PAR,MAR,BRE,spa,bel,hol

TURKEY (Levinson):

ANK,SMY,CON,bul,sev,ser,gre,

(18, WINS!)

tun,rom,rum,nap,ven,tri,mos,bud,vie,war,mun

Neutral:

none

(Total=34)

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Brad Wilson, bwdolphin146 of yahoo.com

ENGLAND: Doug Kent, dougray30 of yahoo.com

FRANCE: Jack McHugh, jwmchughjr of gmail.com

GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

ITALY: Don Williams, wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org

RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com

TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, al of tolkin.nl ($5)

Game Notes:

1) Congratulations, Al, for sticking this out to the solo!!! I'll have a Supply Center Chart next time and I still am interested in endgame statements. I know this has been hanging for a while, and I might have some endgame statements in hand, if you think you sent one and you're unsure if I have it, check with me.

LAST WORD: COME TO WORLD DIPCON in PARIS, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Or go to DixieCon in North Carolina this Memorial Day weekend coming up, get out and play some Dip!!!
THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #337

May 22, 2013

Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287, jfburgess of gmail.com

E-MAIL/WEB ONLY ISSUE! PDF will be available on the website.

Web Page Address: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html

This issue continues the szine/subszine inversion. As most of you know, this thing began as a ßubszine" to Terry Tallman's North Sealth, West George, then became its own szine with a host of subszines. The subszines remaining will appear as sub-subszines to our new flipflopped home in Doug Kent's Eternal Sunshine. Doug's incessant nagging is not keeping us on schedule, but will make it so we will charge forward and finish the remaining games that I have in here. After that, we'll see how it goes and what I do next. I'd like to keep writing and doing some game GMing. You all should see first what I actually do.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE LETTERS SECTION

((For these and other upcoming cons around the world: http://devel.diplom.org/Face/cons/index.php))

Nothing this time...

DIPLOMACY WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT IS ONGOING - YOU CAN STILL JOIN!

So, really, come join, it is being operated on a web-assisted Judge platform that is really pretty easy to use. Ask me if you have any questions.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION

Standby lists:

GAME OPENING INFORMATION

I'm going to start the game opening list over. Under the new regime, who wants to play?

DIPLOMACY: First off, another regular Diplomacy game is open. Doug Kent and Brad Wilson are in, anyone else?

BREAKING AWAY: Also, a new Breaking Away game is open. Currently Andy York is on board. This is the game I really like running and want to start another one. It's easy, very low maintenance.

THE PHIL REYNOLDS MEMORIAL: 2006B, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1907 IS JUNE 15TH, 2013

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1908 IS JULY 20TH, 2013

Fall 1907

AUSTRIA (Burgess): f ion-AEG, a GAL-rum, a VEN h, a VIE S a boh-gal, a tri-BUD,

f nap-ION, a SER S a gal-rum, a BOH-gal.

ENGLAND (James): a DEN S a hol-kie, f nth-BEL, f TYH S f rom, f NWY S f swe, a hol-KIE,

f ROM S f tyh, f SWE S f nwy.

FRANCE (Williams): a gas-MAR, f mid-WES, a BUR-mun, f GOL S a gas-mar, a mun-TYO.

GERMANY (Ellinger): a kie s a ber-mun (d r:ruh,otb), a ber-mun (d ann).

ITALY (Crow): f TUN S ENGLISH f tyh, a PIE-mar.

RUSSIA (Barno): a SEV S a rum, a WAR-gal, a sil-BER, a fin-STP, f con-SMY,

a PRU S a sil-ber, f GRE h, a RUM h, f GOB h.

Supply Center Chart

AUSTRIA (Burgess):

TRI,VIE,BUD,ser,nap,ven

(has 8, rem 2)

ENGLAND (James):

EDI,LVP,LON,nwy,bel,swe,hol,

(has 7, bld 3)

den,kie,rom

FRANCE (Williams):

PAR,BRE,spa,por,mun,MAR

(has 5, bld 1)

GERMANY (Ellinger):

none

(out)

ITALY (Crow):

tun

(has 2, rem 1)

RUSSIA (Barno):

WAR,STP,SEV,MOS,rum,con,ank,

(has 9, bld 1(PLAYS ONE SHORT))

gre,bul,ber,smy

Neutral:

none

(Total=34)

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: David Burgess, burgesscd of roadrunner.com or dburgess of glensfallshosp.org

ENGLAND: Drew James, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com or karelanddrew of gmail.com

FRANCE: Don Williams, wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org ($5)

GERMANY: Marc Ellinger, mellinger of blitzbardgett.com

ITALY: John Crow, johnny.crow of hotmail.com

RUSSIA: Mike Barno, mpbarno of gmail.com

TURKEY: Fred Wiedemeyer, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

Game Notes:

1) Here we go, back in business. Thanks to Marc for playing out the German position.

Press:

(ENGLAND to WORLD): I can't remember who stated this war, why it started, or even who my enemies are anymore. That said, I'm out to be on the winning side!

(BOOB to ENGLAND): Sorry you had to wait so long, you win the prize this turn for the most builds...

(FRANCE to ITALY): I do this with an almost heavy heart. I say "heavy" because this was not the way we envisioned this would go... what?... seven?... eight?... ten?... a score?... four score and seven?... years ago when we started. I say “almost” because, unlike us, you may be done with this misery before you succumb to old age, and so I must confess I feel as though I’m doing you a favor.

(BOOB to DON): It has "only" been seven...

(DON to MIKE): Working on it... he’s been away or something.

(FRANCE to WORLD): Do you realize that, if this game were counted in dog years, it'd now be over the age of fifty...? Another way of looking at it... I was seven years from retirement age when this started and now I’m seven months beyond it... Hell, Jim, let’s get on with it before your grandkids start at Brown...

(BOOB to FRANCE): I'm game for that... let's see who else will draw the time comparisons?

(JAMES to JIM-BOB): Since this game started I've changed where I work and have had four different jobs there. My oldest son has graduated from both high school and college. My youngest son has "graduated" from Middle School, Jr. High, High school, and completed his freshman year of college. I've celebrated both my 20th and 25th wedding anniversaries. This game has been going on longer than WWII! But hey, if you think it still has life, then I'm on board to see it through. However, if you could hold off 1908 for another 5 years I'll be retired and could put more thought into the game...

SPIRALS OF PARANOIA: 2005A, Regular Diplomacy

THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1910 IS JUNE 15TH, 2013

THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1911 IS JULY 20TH, 2013

Fall 1910

FRANCE (Jim Tretick for Buddy Tretick): f eng-NTH, f nth-NWG, a gas-PAR, f gol-TYH, a BUR h,

f tyh-NAP, f ION s f tyh-nap, a MAR h, f LON S f eng-nth.

GERMANY (Ozog for Tallman): f kie-HEL, a mun-RUH, f HOL S a bel, a tyo-MUN,

a pie-TUS, a SER S RUSSIAN a bul-gre, a TRI S a ser, a VEN S a rom, a ROM S FRENCH f tyh-nap,

f DEN S f kie-hel, a APU S a rom, a BEL h, f EDI-nth.

ITALY (Kent): a nap h (d ann), f ADR s f tun-ion (nsu), a gre s a bul-ser (d r:alb,otb).

RUSSIA (Sundstrom): f NWY-nth, f bla-CON, a UKR S a rum, f AEG-ion, a RUM S a con-bul,

a bul-GRE, a con-BUL, a sev-MOS.

Supply Center Chart

FRANCE (Tretick):

PAR,BRE,MAR,spa,lvp,lon,

(has 9, even)

por,tun,nap

GERMANY (Ozog/Tallman):

KIE,BER,MUN,hol,den,bel,swe,

(has 13, bld 1)

vie,rom,bud,ven,tri,ser,edi

ITALY (Kent):

none

(out)

RUSSIA (Sundstrom):

WAR,STP,SEV,MOS,rum,ank,con,

(has 8, bld 3)

smy,nwy,gre,bul

Neutral:

none

(Total=34)

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, paul.rauterberg of att.net

ENGLAND: Fred Wiedemeyer, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca

FRANCE: Buddy Tretick, 5023 Sewell's Pointe Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407

FRANCE: Temporary Standby is Jim Tretick, jtretick of gmail.com

GERMANY: Terry Tallman, ($2) terryt of whidbey.net

GERMANY: Temporary Standby is Eric Ozog, ElfEric of Juno.com

ITALY: Doug Kent, dougray30 of yahoo.com

RUSSIA: Matt Sundstrom, Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net

Game Notes:

1) We still have two medical replacements, as Buddy's son Jim (who some of us played with many years ago as James Alan) will be playing for Buddy as Eric is playing for Terry.

2) Here we go again, and there is real cooperation still going on! I'll keep this chunking along now. Thanks to Doug for playing this out to conclusion, not only are his strings cut, but his survival has run out.

3) With three survivors left, a DIAS FGR and a GR draw are both proposed. Please vote with your Winter orders, as always no vote is a veto.

Press:

(ITALY –- GERMANY): You seem to have forgotten I was a puppet by choice. Now that you’re trying to cut my strings, I’m going to let someone else hold them.

(BERLIN-BELGIUM): Sorry to write you off, but your retreat path may be more useful.

(BOOB to BELGIUM): Doesn't look like you were going anywhere...

FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy

TURKEY WON, CONGRATULATIONS AL LEVINSON! FULL SC CHART NEXT TIME

E-Mail Addresses of the Participants

AUSTRIA: Brad Wilson, bwdolphin146 of yahoo.com

ENGLAND: Doug Kent, dougray30 of yahoo.com

FRANCE: Jack McHugh, jwmchughjr of gmail.com

GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net

ITALY: Don Williams, wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org

RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com

TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, al of tolkin.nl ($5)

Game Notes:

1) I have to go research this back to 2003 to build the SC chart and I want to get this out before Memorial Day just to stun the players in the other two games. I have one Endgame statement from Doug Kent, so let me print that now in hopes in generates some others. But hey that was TEN years ago...

End Game Statement:

DOUG KENT - ENGLAND: I think I entered this game as a standby, but I’m not sure. Sackiepoo Mchugh and I managed to work together, but Brad Wilson was crushed and had no hope of joining the fight. I blame Turkey’s win on Don Williams entirely. If he had done things differently the results would not even resemble these. Sackiepoo and I remain blameless. If you can’t see what I mean by going back and looking over the prior seasons, you have no business playing Diplomacy.

LAST WORD: COME TO WORLD DIPCON in PARIS, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Or go to DixieCon in North Carolina this Memorial Day weekend coming up, get out and play some Dip!!! OR, if you can't make it that far, our very own Matt Sundstrom is hosting a game at his place in Glenview. Last I knew, they needed four more players to make it happen. Who's interested? The game will start at 11 a.m. See http://windycityweasels.org/current-games-signup. In other Chicago area Dip news, Weasel Moot VII is coming up in the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook on June 22-23, that's exactly ONE month from now. I hear that big time politician Edi Birsan is going. You can find more details on the Weasels website at: http://windycityweasels.org/wm7. How can you stay home??? And there you are, and for those who thought it wouldn't happen (Cough, Doug; Cough, Don) here we are.

ZERO SUM, Subzine to Eternal Sunshine, Issue 14 May 26, 2013

Published by Richard Weiss. richardweiss@higherquality.com. All orders due by 8 AM of the Sunday before orders are due for Eternal Sunshine. For June, I presume that makes the due date June 23.

Current Games: 1. Yahtzee (in process, no new players)

2. What’s My Line – new panelists encouraged to join in at any time

3. Drone Wars – a variant Diplomacy

GM Musings: May’s my favorite month. Growing up in Vermont, at higher elevations and before global warming, spring arrived, for sure, in May. Here in Folsom, we’ve already had 90 degree days. No 100 degree days yet. Non-watered areas at low elevation are turning yellow-brown. A color more pleasing to me than the late Fall drabness and the early spring dirty-snow look of Vermont.

The Golden Gate Bridge has eliminated its toll-takers. Cars either have an electronic signal box or a picture is taken and an invoice for the toll is mailed to the owner of the car. I would bet only some lanes allow pictures and some require the electronic box and going through those will carry fines. The Golden Gate Bridge spans the “Golden Gate,” the passage of water boats must traverse to get in or out of San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate has that name because (later in this subzine is the answer)

NEW GAME OFFER NEW GAME OFFER NEW GAME OFFER

Drone Wars Diplomacy Game offer to the world of Eternal Sunshine. First seven to sign up are in for this Gunboat with Press variation based on Jim Burgess’s game that might have been called Evil Yuppie Empire Nuclear War Diplomacy. Send me your interest to play and a ranking as to which country you want to be. First in gets first choice. Game will be named Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. My email remains: richardweiss@higherquality.com

Drone Wars Diplomacy is a variant based on the variants Evil Yuppie and Black Hole Dip. Seven players, each a regular country on the Dip board. Gunboat with press. One drone stocked with one nuclear weapon each supply center owned. Each turn order your units and your drones. No requirement to move or bomb. Units ordered same as regular dip. Drones are ordered as to what map location to bomb. Drone orders are valid to any map location. You can name your drones, number them, or just order “Drones to:” and a list of map locations to bomb.

A piece that ends a turn in a map location that experienced a drone attack that turn is annihilated. Once a space is bombed, the space remains contaminated with 225 rem (2+ Sieverts) for slightly more than 100,000 years. You may order units through a space with 225 rem radiation. Each unit can survive going through one map location with 225 rem of radiation. Your unit remains carrying the 225 rem of exposure for the rest of its life.

You may build new units in home SCs that have no or 225 rem contamination. SCs that have no or 225 rem both count towards how many drones you can order and how many units you can support

The same map location can experience more than one drone attack. Each drone attack increases the level of radiation by 225 rem. 450 rem is lethal (the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 50/30 level, with 50 being % of population expected to die and the 30 being the number of days it will take for that 50% of the population to die). Go through two spaces with 225 rem and the unit dies. Go through one space with 450 rem and the unit dies. Cannot birth (build) a unit in a home SC with 450 rem. Units built in home SCs with 225 rem carry that dose with them and die going through another contaminated space (or staying in the home SC for another turn). [Sounds complicated. Play won’t be.]

Start Spring 01. No season separations. Spring and Fall. Autumn retreats, Winter builds and Spring orders together. Last country with a unit and a SC with less than 450 rem contamination wins.

I don’t have an e-map version of Diplomacy. Thus, I am begging for one (probably I need instructions how to use) from those who GM Dip games. Otherwise, this will be one lame appearing game. (Beg, beg)

Is there still a custodian who assigns variants numbers and such? Fisher? Boardman? Andy York?

YAHTZEE AND YAHTZEE VARIANTS

Rules for regular Yahtzee published in Eternal Sunshine #65. Scoring and play modified from Milton Bradley’s Yahtzee Game copyrighted 1982. Hasbro lists the official rules at: http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Yahtzee.pdf

Yahtzee Game: Kim Philby

First Roll of Round 7 was: 6,4,5,5,4

Doug saved the 4,4,5,5.

Kevin saved the 4,4.

Dane saved 5,5

Geoff saved 4,4,5,5

Second Roll of Round 7 was: (sequentially) 3,5,2

Doug saved the 4,4,5,5 (and no prayer)

Kevin saved the 2,3,4,5

Dane saved 5,5,5

Geoff saved 4,4,5,5 and a prayer

Third Roll of Round 7 was: (sequentially) 1,3

Doug scored the 4,4 as Fours for 8

Kevin is NMR, had the 2,3,4,5 and added the 1. Kevin scored 1,2,3,4,5 for a large straight = 40.

Dane scored 5,5,5 as Fives for 15

Geoff scored 3,4,4,5,5 as Chance for 21

First Roll of Round 8 was: 6,6,3,4,3

Doug saved the 3,3

Kevin saved the 3,3,

Dane saved 6,6

Geoff saved 3,4,6

Second Roll of Round 8 was: (sequentially) 1,1,4,3,5

Doug saved the 3,3

Kevin saved the 3,3, and added the 1,3,1 and is looking good without orders, but, with divine intervention, seeing he has Aces and a full house, the YahtzeeMaster saves 3,3,3.

Dane saved the 6,6

Geoff saved the 1, 3,4,6

Third Roll of Round 8 is: (sequentially) 1,3,1,3,5

First Roll of Round 9 was: 3,2,6,3,6

Doug saved 6,6,3,3

Kevin NMR’d and has to take the most popular choice of others, the 3,3,6,6.

Dane saved 3,3

Geoff saved 3,3,6,6

Second Roll of Round 9 is: (sequentially) 5,3,2,3,2

First Roll of Round 10 is: 1,5,4,2,4

For the next issue of Zero Sum, send in want to score for Round 8, what you want to save after Round 9, Roll 2, & what you want to save after Round 10, Roll 1.

Scoring at the End of Round 7

*Upper*	Doug Kent	Kevin Wilson	Geoff Kemp	Dane Maslen
Ace = 1	1	4	3	2
Twos = 2	6	6		6
Threes = 3
Fours = 4	8		8
Fives = 5	15	15		15
Sixes = 6	24	24	18
*Total*
Bonus +35 if >63
*Total Upper*
*Lower*
3 of a Kind			24	22
4 of a Kind			28	28
Full House = 25		25		25
Sm Straight = 30	30	30		30
Lg Straight = 40		40	40
YAHTZEE = 50
Chance	24		21
Yahtzee Bonus
*Total Lower*
GRAND TOTAL	108	144	142	128

End of the Seventh Scoring Round

Oleg Kalugin: What’s My Line?

Apologies, if any needed, in stealing a great idea from the original producers/creators. Per Wikipedia (retrieved 3 May 2013) Produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS Television, the show was initially called Occupation Unknown before deciding on the name What's My Line?

Oleg Kalugin officially started on 3 May, when Andy Lischett was the first panelist to submit questions. Andy is also the only panelist. My fedora is off to you, Andy.

Next Turn: I will answer the question set of ALL players who send them to me (become a panelist). If you know my occupation but want to submit strange and unusual questions that may or may not contain clues to others, please do.

Panelist: Andy Lischett’s questions:

1. Do you work predominately in an office? YES

2. Do you or your employer create a tangible product? Like vacuum cleaners rather than insurance? NO

3. If so... Is it smaller than a bread box?

4. Is it computer related?

5. Do you sell counterfeit Rolexes? NO

Panelist: Mata Hari’s questions:

Is the State Flower of the state in which you live the Golden Poppy? Yes
Is the State in which you live famous for a gold rush? Yes
Is it true that when non-natives first sailed into SF Bay the gold was not flowing into the waters? Yes
Is the State Flower indigenous to the State? Yes
When Non-natives first sailed into SF Bay, were the hills covered with lots of the state flower? Yes
Is the color of the flower the reason the Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate? Yes

Excerpts from Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations

by Paul Milewski

Adam Smith lived from 1723—1790, and his great work covers a variety of subjects. Here are a few favorite selections of mine. The page numbers in square brackets are from the 2000 Modern Library Paperback Edition, ISBN 0-679-78336-9.

By the 8^th of Elizabeth, chap. 3, the exporter of sheep, lambs or rams, was for the first offence to forfeit all his goods for ever, to suffer a year’s imprisonment, and then to have his left hand cut-off in a market town upon a market day, to be there nailed up; and for the second offence to be adjudged a felon, and to suffer death accordingly. [Page 701]

In England, it becomes every day more and more the custom to send young people to travel in foreign countries immediately upon their leaving school, and without sending them to any university. Our young people, it is said, generally return home much improved by their travels. A young man who goes abroad at seventeen or eighteen, and returns home at one and twenty, returns three or four years older than he was when he went abroad; and at that age it is very difficult not to improve a good deal in three or four years. In the course of his travels, he generally acquires some knowledge of one or two foreign languages; a knowledge, however, which is seldom sufficient to enable him either to speak or write them with propriety. In other respects, he commonly returns home more conceited, more unprincipled, more dissipated, and more incapable of any serious application either to study or to business, than he could well have become in so short had a time, had a lived at home… Nothing but the discredit into which the universities are allowing themselves to fall, could ever have brought into repute so very absurd a practice as that of travelling at this early period of life. By sending his son abroad, a father delivers himself, at least for some time, from so disagreeable an object as that of a son unemployed, neglected, and going to ruin before his eyes. [Pages 832-3]

The post office is properly a mercantile project. The government advances the expence of establishing the different offices, and of buying or hiring the necessary horses or carriages, and is repaid with a large profit by the duties upon what is carried. It is perhaps the only mercantile project which has been successfully managed by, I believe, every sort of government. The capital to be advanced is not very considerable. There is no mystery in the business. The returns are not only certain, but immediate. [Page 881]

The tax was afterwards repealed, and in the room of it was established the window-tax, which has undergone too several alterations and augmentations. The window-tax, as it stands at present (January 1775), over and above the duty of three shillings upon every house in England, and of one shilling upon every house in Scotland, lays a duty upon every window, which, in England, augments gradually from two-pence, the lowest rate, upon houses with not more than seven windows; to two shillings, the highest rate, upon houses with twenty-five windows and upwards. [Page 911]

In some parts of Lancashire it is pretended, I have been told, that bread of oatmeal is heartier food for laboring people than wheaten bread, and I have frequently heard the same doctrine held in Scotland. I am, however, somewhat doubtful of the truth of it. The common people in Scotland, who are fed with oatmeal, are in general neither so strong nor so handsome as the same rank of people in England, who are fed with wheaten bread. They neither work so well, nor look so well; and as there is not the same difference between the people of fashion in the two countries, experience would seem to show, that the food of the common people in Scotland is not so suitable to the human constitution as that of their neighbours of the same rank in England. But it seems to be otherwise with potatoes. The chairmen, porters, and coal-heavers in London, and those unfortunate women who live by prostitution, the strongest men and the most beautiful women perhaps in the British dominions, are said to be, the greater part of them, from the lowest rank of people in Ireland, who are fed with this root. No food can afford a more decisive proof of its nourishing quality, or of its being peculiarly suitable to the health of the human constitution. [Page 185]

The discipline of colleges and universities is in general contrived, not for the benefit of the students, but for the interest, or more properly speaking, for the ease of the masters. Its object is, in all cases, to maintain the authority of the master, and whether he neglects or performs his duty, to oblige the students in all cases to behave to him as if he performed it with the greatest diligence and ability. [Page 824]

Game Openings

Diplomacy (Black Press – Permanent Opening in ES): Signed up: Dax Gorham (?), Paul Milewski, Arthur Shulman, Brad Wilson, needs three or four more.

Youngstown IV (Black Press): Ten-player variant, with off-board boxes to make it “worldwide.” A classic. Rules on request. Signed up: Brad Wilson, Heath Gardner, Andy Bate. Needs 7 more.

By Almost Popular Demand: Same as By Popular Demand, except the top choice in every category scores zero. Join at any time.

Eternal Sunshine Movie Photo Quiz: Join anytime. When this is over the next quiz will either be quotes again, or maybe overly-simple plot descriptions.

Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki?: Rules in ES #58. Join anytime!

What’s My Line?: In Richard Weiss’ subzine. Ongoing, join anytime!

Drone Wars: Diplomacy variant being offered in Richard Weiss’ subzine. Sign up now!

Coming Soon?: 1898, Colonia VII-B. If you’re interested in one of these variants, or have a suggestion, let me know.

Standby List: HELP! I need standby players! – Current standby list: Richard Weiss, Jim Burgess (Dip only), Hank Alme, Martin Burgdorf, Paul Milewski (Dip only), Brad Wilson (including Woolworth), Chris Babcock, Don Williams, Marc Ellinger, Heath Gardner, and whoever I beg into it in an emergency.

I’m going to continue to go through my files and seeing what other variants I can offer, until I find one that gets enough interest to fill. When I offer a variant I’ll give it an issue or two, but if nobody signs up I’ll drop the opening and replace it. If somebody wants to guest-GM a game of anything, just get in touch. If you have specific game requests please let me know.

Eternal Sunshine Game Section

Acquire – “Winterbloom”

Players: Tom Howell, Hank Alme, Per Westling, and Martin Burgdorf.

Turn 6

Tom Howell: Plays 9-D, forms Worldwide. Gets one Worldwide free and buys three Festival.

Hank Alme: Plays 10-E. Buys three Festival.

Per Westling: Plays 3-B, merging Tower into American. Per receives $3,000 and Tom gets $1,500. Per trades two Tower into one American, keeps the rest. Tom trades two Tower for one American. Nobody else owned any Tower. Buys one Imperial.

Martin Burgdorf: Plays 7-F. Buys three Festival.

Tom Howell: Plays 6-F. Buys three Festival.

Turn Order for Turn 7: Hank Alme, Per Westling, Martin Burgdorf, Tom Howell, Hank Alme.

Deadline for Turn 7 is June 24^th at 7pm my time.

Diplomacy “Dulcinea” 2008C, F 23

Austria (Martin Burgdorf – martin_burgdorf “of” hotmail.com): Retreat A Kiel - Munich…

A Belgium Supports A Holland (*Cut*), F Brest Supports F North Sea - English Channel (*Void*),

A Budapest Supports A Galicia – Rumania, A Galicia - Rumania (*Fails*), A Gascony - Spain (*Fails*),

~~A Holland Supports A Munich - Kiel~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Ruhr or OTB),

A Marseilles Supports A Gascony – Spain, A Moscow - Warsaw (*Bounce*), A Munich - Kiel (*Fails*),

A Norway - Sweden (*Fails*), A Picardy Supports A Belgium, A Piedmont - Venice (*Fails*),

A Sweden - Denmark (*Bounce*), A Vienna Supports A Budapest.

England (Hank Alme – almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): F Helgoland Bight Supports A London – Holland,

A Kiel - Denmark (*Bounce*), A London – Holland, F North Sea Convoys A London - Holland.

Turkey (Jim Burgess – jfburgess “of” gmail.com): F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea,

F Baltic Sea - Denmark (*Bounce*), F Black Sea Convoys A Constantinople – Sevastopol,

A Bulgaria Supports A Rumania, A Constantinople – Sevastopol, F English Channel - Belgium (*Fails*),

F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports F Spain(sc),

A Rumania Supports A Serbia (*Cut*), A Serbia Supports F Trieste, A Silesia - Munich (*Fails*),

F Spain(sc) Supports F Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Cut*), F Trieste Supports F Venice, F Tuscany - Piedmont (*Fails*),

A Ukraine - Warsaw (*Bounce*), F Venice Supports F Trieste (*Cut*).

W 23/S 24 Deadline is June 25th at 7:00am my time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Belgium, Berlin, Brest, Budapest, Marseilles, Moscow, Munich,

Norway, Paris, St Petersburg, Sweden, Vienna=12, Even or Remove 1

England: Denmark, Edinburgh, Holland, Kiel, Liverpool, London=6, Build 2

Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Naples, Portugal, Rome, Rumania, Serbia,

Sevastopol, Smyrna, Spain, Trieste, Tunis, Venice, Warsaw=16, Even

PRESS

(BOOB to MARTIN): We just don't seem to see eye to eye ANYWHERE, do we?

(BOOB to HANK): I hope we are the friendly witches in the new Graustark game too!!!

(BOOB to DOUG): And I hope we are somewhere where I can just make you spin in that same game!!!

Doug – Boob: Three of us have already agreed you’re the initial target regardless of what nation you play.

(BOOB to DOUG): Don't expect this to end anywhere before 1930.

Doug – Boob: Assuming you don’t screw it up. And if you don’t, you act like I care how long it goes!

“Dulcinea” Diplomacy Bourse

Billy Ray Valentine: Probably in his limousine.

Duke of York: Travelling.

Smaug the Dragon: Sells 500 Crowns. Buys 300 Piastres.

Rothschild: Sells 500 Crowns and 500 Piasters. Buys 1660 Pounds.

Baron Wuffet: Eating spider stew.

Wooden Nickel Enterprises: Gluing up sawdust for nickels.

VAIONT Enterprises: Sells 500 Crowns. Buys 438 Piastres.

Insider Trading LLC: Prison.

Bourse Master: Taking some courses.

PRESS

Smaug the Tiny Lizard to ALL: Um... someone get Rick Moranis in here! I need embiggening!!!! *snorts flamelessly*

SMAUG THE MAGNIFICENT TO BILBO: Come here.... barrel rider. I promise you won't suffer. *hssssss hsss hsssst*

Bilbo to York: Second breakfast was scrumptious! Third breakfast was even better! Time for a smoke and a nap. You may join us for the smoke, but find your own furz bush for your nap.

Head Churner to Duke: We certainly hope so!

Duke of York to Churners: I am unafraid of your market manipulations! The continued success of the English already has been exploited in these quarters, I am the Duke of York after all!!!!

Next Bourse Deadline is June 24^th at 7:00pm my time

Graustark Diplomacy Game 2006A, F 22

Austria (Don Williams – dwilliams “of” fontana.org): A Rumania - Sevastopol (*Bounce*),

A Trieste Supports F Venice, F Venice Hold.

England (Fred Wiedemeyer – wiedem “of” telus.net): Retreat F Bulgaria(sc) - Aegean Sea,

A St Petersburg - Finland.. F Aegean Sea Supports F Constantinople – Smyrna, A Belgium Hold,

F Black Sea - Sevastopol (*Bounce*), A Burgundy - Munich (*Bounce*), F Constantinople – Smyrna,

F English Channel Supports A Belgium, A Finland – Sweden, A Marseilles Hold, ~~F North Sea – Denmark~~

(*Dislodged*, retreat to London or Helgoland Bight or Skagerrak or Edinburgh or Yorkshire or OTB),

F Norway Supports A Finland – Sweden, F Norwegian Sea Supports F Norway, A Silesia - Berlin (*Bounce*),

F Spain(sc) - Portugal.

France (Hank Alme – almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): No units.

Germany (Harley Jordan – harleyj “of” alum.mit.edu): Retreat A Marseilles - Piedmont..

A Ankara – Constantinople, A Bulgaria Supports A Ankara – Constantinople,

F Denmark Supports F Holland - North Sea, A Greece Supports A Bulgaria, F Helgoland Bight – Holland,

F Holland - North Sea, F Kiel - Berlin (*Bounce*), A Moscow Supports A St Petersburg, A Naples Hold,

A Picardy – Paris, A Piedmont – Tyrolia, A Rome – Tuscany, A Ruhr - Munich (*Bounce*),

~~A Smyrna Supports A Ankara - Constantinople~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Armenia or Ankara or Syria or OTB),

A St Petersburg Supports F Sweden – Norway, ~~F Sweden - Norway~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Skagerrak or

Baltic Sea or Gulf of Bothnia or OTB), A Warsaw - Silesia (*Fails*).

W 22/S 23 Deadline is June 25th at 7:00am my time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Budapest, Rumania, Trieste, Venice, Vienna=5, Build 2

England: Belgium, Brest, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Marseilles, Norway,

Portugal, Smyrna, Spain, Sweden, Tunis=12, Even or Remove 1

France: None=0, OUT!!

Germany: Ankara, Berlin, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Denmark, Greece, Holland, Kiel, Moscow, Munich, Naples, Paris, Rome, Serbia, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Warsaw=17, Even or Build 1 or Build 2

PRESS:

None. You guys suck.

Diplomacy “Jerusalem” 2012A, F 05

Austria (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): A Vienna Supports A Galicia - Bohemia.

England (John Biehl – jerbil “of” shaw.ca): F English Channel Convoys A London – Brest, A London – Brest,

F Mid-Atlantic Ocean Supports A London – Brest, F North Sea – Denmark, F Norway Hold,

F Portugal Supports F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc), A St Petersburg - Moscow (*Fails*).

France (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): ~~F Brest Hold~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Gascony

or OTB), A Marseilles Supports A Spain, ~~A Paris Supports F Brest~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Gascony or OTB),

A Spain Supports A Marseilles (*Cut*).

Germany (Don Williams – dwilliams “of” fontana.org): Retreat A Marseilles - Burgundy..

A Berlin Supports A Silesia (*Cut*), A Bohemia Supports A Vienna (*Cut*), A Burgundy – Paris,

A Picardy Supports A Burgundy – Paris, A Silesia Supports A Bohemia,

F Western Mediterranean - Spain(sc) (*Fails*).

Italy (Mark Firth – mark.r.firth “of” capita.co.uk): F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea,

F Naples Supports F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Piedmont Supports A Venice – Tyrolia,

F Tunis Supports F Ionian Sea - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Venice – Tyrolia.

Russia (Richard Weiss – richardweiss “of” higherquality.com): A Moscow - St Petersburg (*Fails*),

A Prussia - Berlin (*Fails*), A Warsaw Supports A Galicia - Silesia (*Void*).

Turkey (Geoff Kemp - ggeoff510 “of” aol.com): F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea, A Albania - Trieste (*Bounce*),

F Black Sea Hold, A Budapest Supports A Rumania - Galicia (*Fails*), A Galicia - Bohemia (*Fails*),

F Greece Supports F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea, A Rumania - Galicia (*Fails*), A Serbia - Trieste (*Bounce*).

W 05/S 06 Deadline is June 25th at 7:00am my time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Vienna=1, Even

England: Brest, Denmark, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Norway, Portugal,

St Petersburg, Sweden=9, Build 2

France: Marseilles, Spain=2, Even or Remove 1

Germany: Belgium, Berlin, Holland, Kiel, Munich, Paris=6, Even

Italy: Naples, Rome, Trieste, Tunis, Venice=5, Even

Russia: Moscow, Sevastopol, Warsaw=3, Even

Turkey: Ankara, Budapest, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Greece, Rumania, Serbia, Smyrna=8, Even

PRESS

(Heard throughout the halls of the Austrian Chancellory) - "Don't bother me with military matters! I'm listening to Mozart!"

Moscow - London: Please resume sending press. I'll pretend your press is really diplomatic communications. Then there would be some in this game.

Warsaw - Dresden: I have some bombs for you. That reminds me, Mr. GM, I request a game of Evil Yuppie Empire Nuclear War Diplomacy. Maybe one of your subzines would offer it, if you're too chintzy to do it yourself, or if you want to drop a few big ones on someone. Oh, never mind, go look in Zero Sum and join the new variant game there - DRONE WARS Diplomacy.

Black Sea - Istanbul: Stay calm. Mother Nature likes it that way.

Diplomacy “Walkerdine” 2012D, F 02

Austria (Jeff O’Donnell – unclestaush “of” yahoo.com): Retreat A Tyrolia - Trieste..

A Budapest Supports A Serbia (*Cut*), F Greece Supports A Serbia (*Impossible*), ~~A Serbia Supports F Greece~~

(*Dislodged*, retreat to Albania or OTB), ~~A Trieste Hold~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat to Albania or OTB),

A Vienna Supports A Budapest.

England (Marc Ellinger - mellinger “of” bbdlc.com): F English Channel - North Sea,

F North Sea - Norwegian Sea, A Norway - St Petersburg (*Bounce*), F Sweden Hold.

France (Jim Burgess – jfburgess “of” gmail.com): A Belgium Hold, F Gulf of Lyon - Tyrrhenian Sea,

A Marseilles – Piedmont, F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - North Africa, F Spain(sc) - Western Mediterranean.

Germany (Steve Cooley – tmssteve “of” gmail.com): F Baltic Sea Supports F Denmark,

F Denmark Supports F Baltic Sea, A Munich – Tyrolia, A Ruhr – Holland, A Silesia - Galicia (*Fails*).

Italy (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): A Rome Supports A Venice, F Tunis - Ionian Sea (*Fails*),

A Tyrolia – Trieste, A Venice Supports A Tyrolia - Trieste.

Russia (Hank Alme – almehj “of” alumni.rice.edu): F Constantinople - Aegean Sea,

A Galicia - Budapest (*Fails*), F Gulf of Bothnia - St Petersburg(sc) (*Bounce*), A Livonia – Warsaw,

A Rumania Supports A Bulgaria - Serbia.

Turkey (Don Williams – dwilliams “of” fontana.org): F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea, A Bulgaria – Serbia,

F Eastern Mediterranean Supports F Aegean Sea - Ionian Sea, A Ukraine Unordered,

A Galicia – Warsaw (No Such Unit).

Deadline for W 02/S 03 Will Be June 25^th at 7am My Time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Budapest, Greece, Vienna=3, Even or Remove 1

England: Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Norway, Sweden=5, Build 1

France: Belgium, Brest, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal, Spain=6, Build 1

Germany: Berlin, Denmark, Holland, Kiel, Munich=5, Even

Italy: Naples, Rome, Trieste, Tunis, Venice=5, Build 1

Russia: Constantinople, Moscow, Rumania, St Petersburg, Warsaw=5, Even

Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Serbia, Sevastopol, Smyrna=5, Build 1

PRESS

(BOOB to VATICAN): You're just lucky I like bad puns. You better watch out for me, Boobs are very dangerous for you!

(BREST to BOOB): Hey, you're stealing my moniker!!!

(BREST to ST. PETE): We'll see if we're still friendly homes or if the expansionist Brits are taking over the world.

(BURGESS to WILLIAMS): Sure, let's go ahead and concede to Marc or Cooley now.... oh, you meant we should concede to you?!?! MOOOhahahahahaha, I'm rolling on the floor.

GM – Burgess: Why? Fell out of your high chair again? Or off your high horse?

(FRENCH FLEETS to SHUFFLED FLEETS): Yeah, yeah, we prostrate ourselves before your brilliance.

(BREST to VIENNA): I hope you're right.

Italy to France: Our mutual danger is ultimately Turkey. My build was designed to show my friendly intentions. I hope you with understand.

Rome-Vienna: I’m heading your way. You can’t stop me and I won’t be contained. “Fortress Italia” eh? I’m a gonna show you some a dis Italia, eh?

Vatican-Italy: Y’know, on second thought, the Pope thinks your build was . . . terrible, beyond redemption, something only a Protestant could love.

GM – Vatican: Harry, I would like you to sell me a condom. In fact today I think I’ll have a French tickler.

GM-Williams: Good news for you, Donnie me boy! We can take the concession vote now, so please, stop proposing it! 6 emails was enough.

Munich-Boob: I thought you said Turkey was weak?

GM – Munich: No, he said Turkey was the flavor of the week.

Berlin-Boob: Hey pal, just be thankful you’ve got hair to tear out! Btw, you make a fine Santa Claus—so may we presume you’re giving your dots away?

GM – Berlin: Doubtful. He’s a Grinch.

Black Press Gunboat, “Fred Noonan”, 2013Arb32, F 02

Austria: Retreat A Vienna - Galicia.. A Budapest Supports A Galicia – Vienna, A Galicia – Vienna,

F Greece - Ionian Sea (*Bounce*), ~~A Trieste Supports A Galicia - Vienna~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat

to Albania or Serbia or OTB).

England: ~~A Belgium Hold~~ (*Disbanded*), F English Channel Supports F North Sea,

F Irish Sea - Mid-Atlantic Ocean (*Fails*), F North Sea Supports A Belgium (*Cut*).

France: F Brest Supports F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean, A Burgundy – Picardy, A Gascony – Burgundy,

F Mid-Atlantic Ocean - North Atlantic Ocean, F Spain(sc) - Mid-Atlantic Ocean.

Germany: F Denmark Supports F Helgoland Bight - North Sea, F Helgoland Bight - North Sea (*Fails*),

A Holland Supports A Ruhr – Belgium, A Munich Hold, A Ruhr - Belgium.

Italy: F Apulia - Adriatic Sea, F Tunis - Ionian Sea (*Bounce*), A Tyrolia – Trieste,

A Venice Supports A Tyrolia – Trieste, ~~A Vienna Supports A Tyrolia - Trieste~~ (*Dislodged*, retreat

to Bohemia or Tyrolia or OTB).

Russia: F Black Sea – Sevastopol, A Moscow Supports F Black Sea – Sevastopol, A Norway Supports F Sweden,

F Sweden Supports A Norway, A Ukraine Supports F Black Sea - Sevastopol.

Turkey: F Ankara - Black Sea, A Armenia - Sevastopol (*Fails*), A Bulgaria Supports A Rumania,

F Constantinople Supports F Ankara - Black Sea, A Rumania Supports A Armenia - Sevastopol.

Deadline for W 02/S 03 Will Be June 25^th at 7am My Time

Supply Center Chart

Austria: Budapest, Greece, Serbia, Vienna4, Even or Play 1 Short

England: Edinburgh, Liverpool, London=3, Even

France: Brest, Marseilles, Paris, Portugal, Spain=5, Even

Germany: Belgium, Berlin, Denmark, Holland, Kiel, Munich=6, Build 1

Italy: Naples, Rome, Trieste, Tunis, Venice=5, Even or Build 1

Russia: Moscow, Norway, Sevastopol, St Petersburg, Sweden, Warsaw=6, Build 1

Turkey: Ankara, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Rumania, Smyrna=5, Even

PRESS

Rome to Constantinople: Budapest is nice this time of year, cool wine cellars and hearty food. Check it out!!

Rome to Germany: I see you're busy.

Ger - Fra: I understand your defensive move in Burgandy. However, I'm sincerely hoping you can read the board as well as I & understand I have no aggressive intentions towards La Belle France.

Ger - Rus: No harm in trying. I hope you understand I couldn't allow such a large neighbor at this point. My eyes are fixed elsewhere and not on you. Your northern holdings are safe from me. Good luck in the south.

Ger - Eng: Sorry, but you lost the coin toss.

T => I: You can have the Austrian home scs as long as I get all of the Balkans.

T => A: It's a deal, I get all of the Balkans, and you try to defend your home scs.

T => R: Once I have got the whole coast of the Black Sea, I shall have no interest in further conquests of Russian scs.

RUSSIA - GERMANY: J

France to GM: An Austria army in Trieste, yet the territory is “painted” green! And there is both an Italian army and an Austrian army in Vienna! Very strange.

GM – France: You can’t make me believe you don’t know what’s going on. But for anybody who can’t, “painting” only changes after the Fall turn, and two units in one province means the one on the bottom must retreat.

France to GM: The convoy to Ireland will be in place very soon. I have decided to open up trade relations with the Irish by exchanging Irish whiskey for French wine. Good times to had by all!

Diplomacy “Sweet Spot” 2013A, S 02

Austria (Fred Wiedemeyer – wiedem “of” telus.net): A Budapest Supports A Galicia – Rumania,

A Galicia – Rumania, ~~F Greece Supports F Ionian Sea - Aegean Sea~~ (*Disbanded*), A Trieste - Serbia.

England (Harold Zarr - skip1955 “of” hotmail.com): F London - North Sea, F North Sea - Helgoland Bight,

F Norway Supports F Sweden (*Cut*), A Yorkshire - London.

France (Melinda Holley – genea5613 “of” aol.com): F Belgium Supports F Brest - English Channel,

F Brest - English Channel, A Burgundy – Ruhr, A Paris – Picardy, A Spain Hold.

Germany (Jack McHugh – jwmchughjr “of” gmail.com): A Bohemia – Vienna, A Kiel – Denmark,

F Sweden Supports A Kiel - Denmark.

Italy (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): F Ionian Sea Convoys A Tunis – Albania,

A Munich – Tyrolia, F Naples - Tyrrhenian Sea, A Tunis – Albania, A Venice - Trieste.

Russia (Chris Babcock – cbabcock “of” asciiking.com ): F Baltic Sea - Gulf of Bothnia,

F Sevastopol - Rumania (*Fails*), A Silesia – Warsaw, A St Petersburg - Norway (*Fails*).

Turkey (Larry Peery – peery “of” ix.netcom.com): F Aegean Sea Supports A Bulgaria – Greece,

A Bulgaria – Greece, A Constantinople – Bulgaria, A Syria - Armenia.

Deadline for Fall 02 Will Be June 25th at 7am My Time

PRESS

(Versailles) - The Woman leaned forward and looked over the balcony at the magnificent gardens below. Taking a deep breath, she sighed, "Ah, Paris in the Springtime." Several massive sneezes immediately followed. After blowing her nose several times, the Woman wrathfully glared at the garden. "Damn pollen!" Turning, she marched back into her office, slamming the glass doors shut behind her. "Robert! Robert!" Impatiently, the Woman pointed to her aide. "Robert!" she screamed.

The aide looked around then grimaced. "It's Etienne...I mean...Pierre, Madam." He gulped at the glower thrown towards him. "Robert. Yes, Madam."

The Woman sighed. "Any word from the foreign embassies?"

"No, Madam. Our agents in Munich report the Italians are still...making merry."

"Well, the Italians like to party," the Woman admitted. "Did you send that case of wine to them?"

"Yes, Madam. They were most appreciative."

"Appreciative, hmmm. Well, we'll find out just how appreciative."

NEWS FROM TURKEY: A MOSQUE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF

By Larry Peery

Nearly two thousand years ago the apostle Mark wrote, “And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3:25).

Four hundred and fifty years ago Europe was divided for over a hundred and fifty years by a series of religious wars fought between Catholics and Protestants.

A hundred and fifty-five years ago Abraham Lincoln’s House Divided Speech said much the same thing when talking about the dangers slavery posed to the Union.

A generation ago Europe was a continent divided against itself: West vs. East, Christian vs. Communist. Today Europe is still divided against itself: North vs. South, Christian vs. Muslim.

If Lincoln were a Turk living today he might write something like the following: “A mosque divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Republic cannot endure, permanently, half secular and half fundamentalist. I do not expect the Republic to be dissolved---I do not expect the mosque to fall---but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of secularism will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the Provinces, old as well as new---cities as well as in rural areas. “

At times the battle between secularists and fundamentalists seems funny. At others not so much. Consider the recent stories circulating about Turkish Airlines. First the airline announced it was banning lipstick. Then it said it was only banning red lipstick. Then it said it was only banning bright lipstick. And finally it said pastel lipsticks were OK. Modern stewardess uniforms are out and the new ones require full length skirts and head coverings. The Airline announced it was banning alcohol on its flights, but after international travelers raised a ruckus the Airline said the ban would only apply to flights to and from Russia because of their unruly passengers. In the meantime Turkish Airlines is buying 117 new Airbuses, Istanbul Airport will become the world’s largest by 2020, just in time to host the Olympics Turkey is hoping for. And then just a week ago the international media featured a story of a couple who had intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal, but ended up 7,000 miles away in Dhaka, Bangladesh because the airline (Turkish Airlines, of course) coded their tickets and luggage LAX-IST-DAC instead of LAX-IST-DKR< Not to worry, the Turkish Air Force is replacing its F-16s with locally built (with Swedish Saab’s assistance) jet fighters. Perhaps it intends to use them to shoot down passenger jets arriving at its new airport for the 2020 Olympics?

On a more serious note, and returning to the mosque analogy I mentioned above, Istanbul has 19 mosques (some of which are now museums) that were originally built by the Byzantines but converted to mosques by the Ottomans. Istanbul has 39 purpose built mosques built by the Ottomans. Istanbul has 1 mosque, the Sakirin Mosquem built in the post Ottoman period. It opened in 2009, and is built on top of a three level parking garage! End of story? Not quite. ANS Amed reports: “Some 17,000 new mosques have been built during Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10 years of leadership. In the same period the amount of public schools has remained at 32,000, while the number of mosques has jumped from 76,000 to 93,000. Turkey’s secular opposition has accused Erdogan of having a “secret plan” to re-Islamisize the nation. Erdogan recently announced the construction of a new mega-mosque in Istanbul which will “be seen from every corner of the Bosphorus” and will have the tallest minarets in the world.”

And what of Turkey’s foreign affairs?

Turkey conquered the Balkans five centuries ago. Now Turkish power is making inroads through friendlier means according to a Washington Post article, “In Bosnia, Turkey brings back a gentle version of the Ottoman Empire.” (24 March 2013). Still, many in the Balkans think they are merely a way point on the route to Turkey’s broader goals. “They are a big regional power,” said Hayruddin Somun, a former Bosnian ambassador to Turkey. “The Balkans was always their path to conquering Europe. They had to come through here.” Will history repeat itself in “Sweet Spot?” Only time will tell.

At about the same time Time was saying, “Turkey’s Big Week Means New Clout In An Emerging Middle East.” (Time, 28 March 2013). Time hailed Obama’s role as peacemaker between Israel and Turkey, Ergodan’s success in brokering a deal with the Kurdish PKK, and Turkey’s growing influence in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Reuters, a couple of months later, lauded Turkey’s becoming a “creditor” rather than “debtor” nation after it finished paying off its IMF loans, capping a decade of rapid growth, financial stability and political reform by a “tiger” economy on the seam of Europe and Asia. Still, as EU members around the Mediterranean wallow in financial crises, Turkey remains outside the EU because of Cypriot and French obstruction.

Erdogan visited Washington in late May for talks with President Obama. The two discussed Syria, and peace in the Middle East. Both supported the idea of getting rid of Assad and supported peace in the Middle East, but offered no clear idea of how to achieve either. The possibility that Turkey’s agreement with the PKK and Kurds, and its deal with the Iraqi government to bring oil fields in the Kurdish area of Iraq back on line may give pause to oil producers in the Bakken oil fields of the USA. Not mentioned, I’m sure, was the fact that Erdogan has lost prestige at home in the last couple of years. The winds of history seem to be blowing in a different direction and nobody is now calling Erdogan a “neo-Ottoman Sultan.”

Finally, if you’re unhappy with your current bank and tired of dealing with ATMs, online banking systems that don’t work, and telephone banking operations that never seem to do what you want instead of what they’re programmed to do, I have an alternative. Pay a visit to the Sovereign Bank’s Dorchester, Massachusetts branch on Morrissey Boulevard and talk to Santina. Santina moved into the bank’s building courtyard last winter and was quickly adopted by employees and customers alike. A 20-pound female turkey of sweet temperament, unlike more aggressive, territorial tom turkeys, Santina’s curious about how to help you. In fact, when she sees you in the windows and doors, she’ll come toward you. Oh, and if you decide to ignore the “Do Not Feed” signs Santina will happily take your deposits of popcorn, sunflower seeds, and turkey feed; but no chicken feed please.

England to Russia: I’m impressed with your skill in the game. Lots of movement, no builds in the first year. If Austria and Turkey can get on the same page, I predict a short life for the Russian bear!

Woolworth II-D “Coney Island” 2013Bcb19, W 01/S 02

Austria (Secret): Build A Vie..A Vie-Tyr, F Tri-Ven, A Gal S A Bud, A Bud S A Gal

Balkans (Secret): A Rum S A Ser, A Ser S A Rum, F Alb-Gre.

England (Secret): F Edi–Cly, A Wal-Lpl, F Lon-Ech.

France (Heath Gardner - heath.gardner “of” gmail.com): Build F Mar..A Bel S A Bur, A Bur S A Bel,

F Bre-Ech, F Mar-Gol.

Germany (Marc Ellinger - mellinger “of” bbdlc.com): Build A Mun, A Ber..A Ber S A Mun-Sil, A Mun-Sil,

A Kie S F Hol,F Hol H, A Swi H.

Italy (Secret): Build A Nap..F Ion-Gre, F Tun-Ion, A Ven S F Tri(OTM), A Nap-Apu.

Russia (Jim Burgess - jfburgess “of” gmail.com): A War H, A Lvn H, A Sev H, ~~F Bla H(~~Destroyed).

Scandinavia (Geoff Kemp - ggeoff510 “of” aol.com): F Nwy-Nwg, A Den H, F Nth S F Bre-Ech.
Spain (Secret): F NAO-Ice, F Mid S F Bre-Ech, A Gas-Mar.
Turkey (Hugh Polley – hapolley “of” yahoo.ca): Build F Con..F Bul-Bla, A Per-Arm, A Arm-Ank,

F Con S F Bul-Bla.

Deadline for F 02 is June 25th at 7am My Time

PRESS

Italy to Bulkans - We will support the Austria in all matters regarding Tri, ADR, Ion.

Italy to Austria - notice we have supported Tri as promised against any outside power. Our relationship is not an alliance but rather a promise to help out whenever a third party enters territory along our joint border.

Ank for Ser: What happened, I expected to be stood off in Bul not to take it! Consider me your partner in the STOP Russia alliance. Your humble servant the very grateful Sultan of Turkey. I pledge to use the Fleet loan wisely; never aid the Austrian against you, and to support your units when ever viable!

Ank for Bud: I will not help you out against my buddy in the Bulkans but if you are in position to cause Russia some trouble, and I can lend a hand, expect help. The taking of Bul was not expected. Hope my buddy has an easy time taking it back.

Ank for Ven: Damm! I was hoping to take a run at Cre but Russia moved to Bla ruining my Con move to Aeg. You are doing well, I was not expecting such an easy time for you in conquest of Tun. Is move to WMS in cards?

Eng - Scan: Thanks to your meddling, we might have to jpin forces to get it, Although is that such a bad idea in these early stages?

Eng – Spain: Rather than a grab at Iceland, can we divide France better?

Austria to Balkans: Hey, I'm stuck down here, how about if someone gives me some room, I'm all about peaceful co-existence.

Separators to Non-Separators: If Spring goes forward those of us lazy Separators may have some problems as secret powers are revealed.... Or are they???

By Almost Popular Demand

The goal is to pick something that fits the category and will be the a popular answer but NOT the "most popular" answer. You score points based on the number of entries that match yours. For example, if the category is "Cats" and the responses were 7 for Persian, 3 for Calico and 1 for Siamese, everyone who said Persian would get 7 points, Calico 3 and the lone Siamese would score 1 point. However, if your answer is the most popular answer, you score ZERO. The cumulative total over 10 rounds will determine the overall winner. Anyone may enter at any point, starting with an equivalent point total of the lowest cumulative score from the previous round. If a person misses a round, they'll receive the minimum score from the round added to their cumulative total. In each round you may specify one of your answers as your Joker answer. Your score for this answer will be doubled. In other words, if you apply your Joker to category 3 on a given turn, and 4 other people give the same answer as you, you get 10 points instead of 5. Players who fail to submit a Joker for any specific turn will have their Joker automatically applied to the first category. And, if you want to submit some commentary with your answers, feel free to. The game will consist of 10 rounds, and the score is doubled for Round 10. A prize will be awarded to the winner. Research is permitted!

Round 4 Categories

1. A film featuring Kevin Spacey.

2. A flavor of ice cream.

3. A character from the television show M*A*S*H.

4. Part of a cat.

5. Another word for beautiful.

Selected Comments By Category

Kevin Spacey – Brad Wilson “almost said Glengarry Glen Ross but no one will remember that.” Kevin Wilson “Lots to pick from here. Lots of good stuff too. I think this one will get some picks but not be #1. Seven or American Beauty I think will be #1.” Andy Bate “Not being a film buff, I'll just go see what I have to choose from... LOL Looks to be a toss-up between American Beauty, L.A. Confidential and The Usual Suspects.” Marc Ellinger “Maybe I should be embarrassed, but this is the only movie I can think of with Spacey in it….are there others?”

Ice Cream – Phil Murphy “Vanilla - Especially nice with good quality chocolate sauce in my view.” Kevin Wilson “Surely vanilla or chocolate will be #1.”

M*A*S*H – Kevin Wilson “I think Hawkeye will be #1.” Andy Bate “Immediate reaction is Radar, so going to avoid that one on the basis that it could be the most popular. Hotlips has to be in the running for that accolade, too, even though it wasn't anywhere near the top of my list. I've just started watching the DVDs from the beginning, so let's go with Trapper John and hope most people remember the later series.” Marc Ellinger “So many great characters from my childhood through high school, but it really focused on Hawkeye.”

Cat – Dane Maslen “I thought 'tail' was the obvious answer for 4 so I've desperately avoided it. No doubt everyone else will too so 'claw' will score zero instead.” Andy Bate “Tail seems to be the obvious choice.” Marc Ellinger “I hate cats, so if you bury one this is all that sticks up!!!! (Just kidding…sort of!)” John Biehl “The (cat)egories this time are, I think, particularly 'feline fiendish'. Thre are so many good answers to each (cat)egory

{notice how slyly a 'cat' got insinuated in) {btw, I like cats too} that it will be most interesting to see which answer comes in second for each.”

Beautiful – Marc Ellinger “Gorgeous – Just like my wife!”

Congrats to Michael Quirk who scored 24. Poor Mark Firth hit the bottom with 2.

Round 5 Categories

1. A film featuring Chevy Chase.

2. A company which makes fine crystal.

3. A fictional detective.

4. A ship associated with Christopher Columbus.

5. An Ivy League school.

Deadline for Round 5 is June 25th at 7:00am my time

Stock	Price	% +/-
AJK - Allison Kent	71	1.4%
ALM - Hank Alme	29	3.6%
AMB - Amber Smith	0.01	0.0%
AND - Lance Anderson	0.01	0.0%
BAB - Chris Babcock	4	33.3%
BIE - John Biehl	110	1.9%
BRG - Martin Burgdorf	99	2.1%
BWD - Brad Wilson	115	1.8%
CAK - Andy Lischett	101	1.0%
CAL - Cal White	0.01	0.0%
CHC - Chuy Cronin	0.01	0.0%
CIA - Tom Swider	0.01	0.0%
CKW - Kevin Wilson	98	-3.9%
CKY - Carol Kay	25	-10.7%
DAN - Dane Maslen	97	1.0%
DBG - David Burgess	0.01	0.0%
DGR - David Grabar	3	-40.0%
DTC - Brendan Whyte	93	1.1%
DUK - Don Williams	88	2.3%
FRD - Fred Wiedemeyer	94	2.2%
FRG - Jeremie Lefrancois	0.01	0.0%
FRT - Mark Firth	95	3.3%
GAR - Heath Gardner	63	3.3%
GRA - Graham Wilson	0.01	0.0%
HAP - Hugh Polley	38	5.6%
HDT - Heather Taylor	98	2.1%
HLJ - Harley Jordan	84	2.4%
JOD - Jeff O'Donnell	84	1.2%
KMP - Geoff Kemp	97	2.1%
KVT - Kevin Tighe	35	-12.5%
LAT - David Latimer	83	1.2%
LCR - Larry Cronin	0.01	0.0%
MRK - Mark Nelson	0.01	0.0%
MCC - David McCrumb	40	-9.1%
MCR - Michael Cronin	0.01	0.0%
MIM - Michael Moulton	22	-8.3%
MRC - Marc Ellinger	96	2.1%
OTS - Tom Howell	94	2.2%
PER - Per Westling	94	2.2%
PJM - Phil Murphy	32	6.7%
QUI - Michael Quirk	13	8.3%
RAC - Robin ap Cynan	69	1.5%
RDP - Rick Desper	102	2.0%
REB - Melinda Holley	100	2.0%
RED - Paraic Reddington	106	1.9%
RWE - Richard Weiss	114	4.6%
SAK - Jack McHugh	188	7.4%
TAP - Jim Burgess	121	7.1%
VOG - Pat Vogelsang	0.01	0.0%
WAY - W. Andrew York	98	2.1%
WLK - Richard Walkerdine	141	0.0%
WWW - William Wood	0.01	0.0%
YLP - Paul Milewski	125	4.2%

THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #336

LAST WORD: COME TO WORLD DIPCON in PARIS, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Or go to DixieCon in North Carolina this Memorial Day weekend coming up, get out and play some Dip!!! THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #337

LAST WORD: COME TO WORLD DIPCON in PARIS, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Or go to DixieCon in North Carolina this Memorial Day weekend coming up, get out and play some Dip!!!
THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #337