December 2016 is end of Matteo Renzi era in Italy. Stunning political coup!!

Well, Italy is going through some tough times. Matteo Renzi is the youngest Italian Prime Minister, but he will be resigning this week. Renzi was Prime Minister for close to three years, yet December 4 is the turning point in his tenure in office. His proposals for constitutional reform in Italy, were met with a resounding 'No' vote. It is anybody's guess on who will be the next PM in Italy. Italy is the third largest economy in the Euro zone, most likely behind Germany and France. Furthermore, the elections could happen in January 2017 as the country braces for political turmoil. The political parties in Italy will have to work together to fix the electoral law. Matteo Renzi will continue to be the leader of the Democratic Party in Italy, yet he will resign his post of Prime Minister. The 2016 Italian constitutional referendum defeat signals the end for the former mayor of Florence. What lies ahead for Matteo Renzi? This year, politics has been a major topic of change in United States and Great Britain. Now, Italy is adding to the mix of a year of change. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan is seen to be the next Prime Minister in Italy, but the elections could bring in another new candidate. President Obama was a big supporter of Matteo Renzi, as Obama supported Renzi in his last state dinner in Washington DC. Italy's banking system has been troubled for the past decade, and their political scene needs some new changes. Finally, the Five Star Movement has a clear ability to win voters on the left and right with a mix of social liberalism, economic populism and tough law-and-order talk. Will this party be the clear choice of change in Italy? The current European Union is not working, according to the Five Star Movement. Hopefully, these changes in government in Europe and U.S. will not lead their economies to falter further. The economies of these two regions need to be strengthened further. It is Italy's younger people that need to be employed, and they need to shape the right change for their economy. The picture above shows Matteo Renzi giving his resignation speech. Ciao Matteo!!

Donald Trump pulls off huge political upset. Hillary Clinton campaign loses again!

Last night, Hillary Clinton lost the presidency to Donald Trump. Donald got more than 270 electoral votes, and his margin of victory is monumental. He got the key votes from Ohio, Florida, and Texas. Many other states turned out to be deciding ones, for the billionaire businessman from NYC. Many newspaper outlets including CNN, CNBC, Fox News, and ABC were preparing for a Hillary Clinton victory. Heck, she had her victory speech ready on Tuesday night. Yet, the victory speech was thrown away. Donald Trump gave his victory speech this morning in New York. In 2008, Hillary Clinton lost the democratic nomination to Barack Obama. In 2016, she lost the general election to Donald Trump. Having a woman president in the USA is not going to happen, until 2020 or 2024. Where did Hillary Clinton go wrong, in her campaign over the past 2-3 weeks? She won three presidential debates, but FBI director James Comey wanted to do another investigation of the e-mail messages and server before the election. Could this problem be one of the reasons for her loss? Now, let's move onto Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Both of these people are polarizing personalities. Will Mike Pence be the next Dick Cheney? Dick was a ruthless, smart, and behind the scenes guy during 9/11 and the Afghanistan invasion in 2002-2003. According to many American historians, Dick Cheney is the most powerful VP. Donald Trump is known for the following buildings/casinos: Trump Tower, Trump Plaza, Trump Tower International Chicago, Trump Las Vegas hotel, the closed Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and Trump 29 (which became Spotlight 29 casino). Will Donald be known for his eccentric policies, or these beautifully designed structures? Some eccentric policies are building a wall on the border of US, and Mexico. The 2nd policy is to eradicate Muslims from parts of the US, and the world. Get rid of ISIS, but how is he going to do it. Finally, which people will make up Donald's cabinet in 2 months? This final question is an important one for all Americans. Will Ivanka Trump, Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, and Janet Yellen have jobs in the Trump regime? Janet Yellen may lose her job, as Federal Reserve Chair. Trump has echoed this sentiment a handful of times. If you have read these paragraphs, then you deserve a lot of credit. Enjoy the final picture of Hillary. If she would have won, the US would not think about recession but jubilation. Protests are happening in US cities, due to the Trump victory. Hope the Donald has one term in office only. Don't mean to be negative, but this opinion is shared by many successful Americans. Enough said!!

Final days before Presidential Election are here, and what to expect on Election Day

October is over, and the presidential debates ended quickly. There are six days left before Election Day. Four days ago, early voting was on my mind. Thank god, G. Ripley voted early. The line might have been an hour long, but early voting is the action that many Americans should do. As for Election Day, the general public will watch election results come in. Can Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump get a clear path to 270 electoral votes? For now, the early voting is helping Hillary Clinton according to CNN and other news outlets. The polls might show Donald has the advantage, due to the recent FBI investigation of 'private server' e-mails on Hillary. FBI Director James Comey might be seen as a hero, in the Trump campaign these days. Let's go back to the electoral college, and the elusive 270 that Donald is having trouble with reaching. Republicans continue to flip-flop on who they are supporting, but Paul Ryan is supporting 'the Donald' as the next president. This choice makes Paul a 'no-no' as the next speaker of the house, in my eyes. Finally, the expectations should be some presidential firsts for November 8. Hillary could be the first female president, and Bill Clinton would live in the East Wing in January 2017. He would be the 'first gentleman', while Donald could be the first billionaire president. Hopefully, Tim Kaine can be the vice president to walk into the White House in January 2017. It may not be a far distance for this Virginia politician. The suspense is six days away, and the TV networks will cover more news. Tune into different networks on next Tuesday. Hope you like the image of the red, and blue states of this country. Bye bye!!

Drinking wine from sancerre region, at La Bocca; plus some cool flirting at Murphy's Law

Last night with Primo Greenleaf, Rahulio Ganpuleone was doing his usual Friday night shenanigans. First, he drank some wine samplers. The first sample was a Eola Hills pinot gris wine, from Willamette valley Oregon. It was an ok pinot gris grape wine, but nothing worth writing on this blog post extensively. The second sample was a 2014 Gravitas blended wine, from bonny doon vineyard (Santa Cruz, ca area). The second sample was a better white blended wine, of the two. Rahulio settled on a sauvignon blanc wine from Sancerre wine region of France, at La Bocca. The sauvignon blanc wine provided a crisp flavor for me. It is a true winner in my sommelier world! After La Bocca, Primo suggested we go to Murphy's Law in downtown chandler for some more drinking and Live Music! We ventured into the bar, and a beautiful young seductive lady (YSL) asked us about drinks. She was our waitress, Kimmy. She was a younger vixen that had incredible blonde hair. All of these nice features of the waitress led Rahulio to do some flirting, at Murphy's Law bar with Kim. Drinking beer and listening to live music became another fun part, of the night. Primo G. took in the people watching scene. Rahulio kept flirting with Kimmy, as she is a high school English teacher in Chandler. Anyways, enjoy the picture above of the Sancerre wine region. Sancerre is a small city in the Loire valley. The picture provides a panoramic view, and this town is on Rahulio's list of wine valleys to visit. Au Revoir mes amis!!

Smoking one of Dumas favorite books, in San Diego plus some cool debauchery!

This past weekend, G. Ripley traveled to San Diego again for a friend's bachelor party. The weekend involved staying at a nice house on Mission Beach, with six other amigos. The first night involved good dinner (tacos and italian food), good drinks (Mionetto Prosecco wine), and good story telling by yours truly with the six amigos. Later, G. Ripley drank smirnoff ice and ballast point california kolsch to close out a fun friday night. For Saturday, the day started with friends going to the pacific ocean. G. Ripley decided to go into the water, and this foolish act resulted in getting jeans and orange nike sneakers drenched. The jeans were dried up by the end of the day. The next adventure consisted of a beer tour, of Coronado brewing company and Modern Times Beer. Both breweries were cool to check out, as Lars the tour guide gave us good tips at each one. At Coronado brewing company, 'Best X ever' and 'Jurata' were the samples tried by G. Ripley. At modern times beer, four samples were imbibed. Modern times beer was the best of the breweries, if G. Ripley had to choose one. The ambience sparked my interest, as did the beers. Next, the plan for dinner came to fruition as the 'magnificent seven' ate good japanese food at 'bang bang sushi' restaurant in gaslamp district. More wine was on my mind, as cakebread sauvignon blanc became the vino of choice. After japanese food, we moved onto mina lounge for hookah and drinks. The count of montecristo was smoked by G. Ripley, and this joke is lousy. One Montecristo cigar was smoked by G. Ripley, while other friends smoked hookah. The last stop on Sunday night was a beautiful artistic display of women at Pacer's international GC. The females were nice as usual. G. Ripley enjoyed the LA, as RSG enjoyed Catalina's lips. This subtle action of romance was a part of the debauchery. Finally, Sunday was a day to check out of the house. The trip was fun, and a memorable time for NV wolverine. His wedding will take place in less than five weeks. Check out the picture of Montecristo cuban cigar, as G. Ripley enjoyed smoking this one for a good 50 minutes. Peace!

Celebrating 4 decades young! Birthday of G. Ripley!

Two days ago, my friends surprised me for my pre-birthday dinner. Ms. Dutt and Primo Greenleaf pulled off the monster surprise. It was a pleasure for g. Ripley to spend time with his two friends (for the past many years). Apparently, Ms. Dutt and Primo had planned this surprise scheme for some time without G. Ripley's knowledge. After dinner at public station 310 restaurant in Culver City, the next destination was a nice speakeasy bar on Thursday night. G. Ripley had two concoctions, vodka Collins and tom Collins. Beautiful drinks plus dancing with Preena, beautiful Indian vixen; were part of a fun night. Yesterday, G. Ripley turned '4 decades young', and the time was well spent at universal studios Hollywood. 7 rides (harry potter, studio tour, minions, waterworld, Jurassic park, transformers: the ride, and the walking dead attraction) plus shows were part of my exciting day. Also, primo greenleaf got a hold of the pin for me to wear (40th birthday, Rahul) and free front of the line ride passes were part of the gift. The birthday was a day to remember for me. Who knows what will happen on 45th, and 50th year celebrations! Stay tuned! Enjoy the picture of primo greenleaf and the covert g. Ripley. Au Revoir Mes amis!!

G. Ripley's cool adventures in San Diego!

Well, two days in San Diego for labor day weekend was a trying experience. First, Kayaking at Sea Life & Caves Kayak in La Jolla Shores is the first activity G. Ripley tried. Unfortunately, Kayaking in San Diego was cool for 20 minutes then Rahulio got sea sick. Plus, stomach cramps hindered me too. Maybe, next time it will happen. Kayaking for 90 minutes was going to be part of my daily cardio today. My friend, Amit; was directing me in a tandem kayak. He was teaching me the right way to kayak, as you have to go left (to go right) and go right (to head left). It is an opposite direction thing, as you can see. The tour guide, Isabella; was a cute woman though. She did a great job of teaching me how to get out of the water, when my cramps started happening. After kayaking, Mexican food was the next stop in Del mar area. It was some good food, and good vino from central coast California for me. Yesterday, Ballast point brewery was the first spot for me to have some beer. At this San Diego based brewery in Little Italy, three women were flirting with me. There names were kat, atina, and kindle. Yet, they left after 20 minutes to smoke some cigars. Next up on the drinking parade is going to hyatt regency hotel in San Diego. Drinking erath pinot gris wine, and talking to some more females made it a good time. Plus, stealing the water glass is another thing that klepto rahulio did. Finally, Pacific beach for dinner was cool. Rahulio drank rose wine from South Africa at Barbusa restaurant in little Italy. This means Rahulio has drank alcohol from all six continents, over the past 19 years. Staying at the doubletree by Hilton hotel was not a good experience. But, this trip was about trying adventurous stuff. Rahulio enjoyed the walking to new bars and meeting new people. See the picture above. The quote is from Steve martin, one of the funniest Hollywood actors ever. The picture is taken from 40 floors up, at hyatt regency grand Manchester hotel in San Diego.