The Olympics List (4 of 10): The Canadians

While those of us on the east coast of the United States are in the midst of yet another major snowstorm mess which will probably provide fodder for Bill O'Reilly to say Al Gore is wrong, there is no global warming, ya da ya da ya da..........we have noticed that there is seemingly no snow in Sochi!

With that in mind, here is our list of ten Canadian athletes who are assuredly more used to snow than students at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, one of the zip codes affected by today's storm:

1) Alex Bilodeau. Age 26. Home province: Quebec. Men's Free-style Skiing. Has won gold.

2) Dara Howell. Age 19. Home province: Ontario. Women's Free-style Skiing.  Has won gold.

3) Jesse Lumsden. Age 31. Home province: Alberta. Men's Bobsledding.

4) Heather Moyse. Age 35. Home province: Prince Edward Island. Women's Bobsledding.

5) Ryan Fry. Age 35. Home province: Ontario. Men's Curling. The team beat Russia 7-4  today.

6) Jennifer Jones. Age 39. Home province: Manitoba. Women's Curling. The team beat Great Britain 9-6 today.

7) Shea Weber. Age 28. Home province: British Columbia. Men's Hockey. Plays for Nashville Predators (pictured).

8) Laura Fortino. Age 23. Home province: Ontario. Women's Hockey. Plays for Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The team beat the United States 3-2 today.

9) Charles Hamelin. Age 29. Home province: Quebec. Men's Short-track Speed-skating. Won gold.

10) Rosalind Groenewood. Age 24. Home province: Alberta. Free-style Skiing.

For our list of athletes from Scandinavian countries, go to our sister blog http://www.polticscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

SIDEBAR: NBC News is reporting that my beloved hometown of Roanoke, Va., will get 10-15 inches of snow during the major storm which will hit virtually the entire east coast. This is virtually the same amount of snow they are expecting in Rutland, Vermont! Major metro areas which have been affected include Atlanta, Columbia (SC), Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh (NC), Richmond (Va), Washington DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

http://olympic.ca/

http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/

http://olympics.cbc.ca/

http://www.nbcolympics.com/

http://www.winthrop.edu

Monday Night Pre-Debate Tweets: Can Dogs Decide the Election?

Hmmm.....there are no images here which actually match tonight's presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., which will focus on foreign policy...oh well!

The reasons why we are featuring images of a Scottish terrier, the cast of "Freaks and Guns," reruns of which are still on The Sundance Channel and a Cayman blue iguana will soon be revealed....just scroll down....


Here are tonight's tweets:

1) @Albertbrooks (Albert Brooks, a comedian/actor/film director/novelist): "Going to watch the debate tonight with 12 undecided voters, well actually they're dogs." (Yes, that's the reason for the Scottish terrier, which was the breed of George W. Bush's White House dog).

2) @WSJ ("Wall Street Journal"): "Bad news for nerds. Popular kids in high school earn 10% more 40 years after graduation." (Yes, that's the reason for the image of the "Freaks and Geeks" cast).

3) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Grand Cayman's blue iguanas no longer listed as critically endangered" (yes, that's the reason for the blue iguana).

4) @ABC11_WTVD (WTVD is Raleigh, NC's ABC affilaite): "Obama camp says battle for NC is not over. Romney's team telling us the president's campaign yanking ads from the state."

5) @JenGanholm (Jennifer Granholm is a former Democratic Michigan governor and a tv show host on Current TV): "John Kerry: Mitt Romney has 'Rosetta Stone' foreign policy."

6) @Dailykos (Daily Kos, a liberal blog): "Open thread: Lesley gore tells Romney: 'You Don't Own Me," this is in reference to pop singer Lesley Gore from yesterday who had hit song "You Don't Own Me," at first we thought she was one of Al Gore's daughters....good thing we googled Lesley Gore!

7) @MarketPlaceAPM ("Market Place" is a daily radio show airing on most NPR stations): "Yes, it's true. Some voters are still undecided. Lynn @Vavreck on why some voters haven't picked a pony yet." (The segment said that women voters were more undecided than male voters due to household pressures).

8) @thenation ("The Nation" is a liberal magazine): "Romney campaign, media collude in unprecedented politicization of Benghazi, Libya, affair."


http://www.caymanislands.ky

http://www.albertbrooks.com

http://www.sundancechannel.com

http://www.current.com

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.stca.biz (Scottish Terrier Association of America)

10 People Who Will Decide the Election (8 of 10) _ New Hampshire

Name: Mary Murphy (a fictional person)

Age: 68

Occupation: Antiques Dealer

Residency: Dover, New Hampshire 03820

Political Affiliation: Independent leaning Republican

Will Likely Vote for: Mitt Romney (but her state will likely vote for Barack Obama)

Today, we continue to look at how an individual in a given swing state can impact the election. Older people tend to vote Republican, so much so that the faux news publication "The Onion" wrote an article stating that GOP operatives were working diligently to keep older voters alive on Election Day, which is four weeks from today. But, women voters are favoring President Barack Obama.

In New Hampshire, Obama holds a relatively comfortable lead over Mitt Romney by a 50-44 margin according to the "Politico" swing state map. Obama is faring even better in Massachusetts, a state that Romney governed. The margin there is 59-34.

It thus appears highly likely that Romney will be the first presidential candidate to lose his home state in an election since Al Gore lost Tennessee to George W. Bush, in the highly controversial/dubious election of 2000. 

The last person elected president to lose their home state was Richard M. Nixon in 1968.

And, in case you were wondering, Barry Goldwater's running mate in 1964 was William E. Miller.

That's all we have time for today; there will be another installment in this series tomorrow.

http://wiswallhouseantiques.com (An antique store in Durham, NH)

http://www.politico.com

http://www.theonion.com

Entry Using Trendy Topics- Clinton Names Every GOP President Except Ford

Today, we decided we would compose a post with trending terms from various sources, including Twitter and Bing. Of course, our prime focus is on the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, which competed with an NFL football game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys; the terms we are using are: Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Elizabeth Warren, Eddie Murphy, Charlotte NC, Michelle Obama, Chris Christie, Al Gore, Boston kreme donuts and the Dallas Cowboys.

Here is our composition:

"Tonight in front of a packed house in Charlotte, NC, former president Bill Clinton named every Republican president since Dwight Eisenhower with the one exception of the late Gerald Ford: Assuredly, Bill O'Reilly will think of a way to spin this so the Romney/Ryan ticket gets more votes in Michigan, which is Ford's home state as well as Ford's (as in the car) home state. Elizabeth Warren who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) have a stirring speech about the need to fight over corporate loopholes and banking deregulation. Eddie Murphy was not in attendance in Charlotte, but another false rumor about his death circulated on the Internet. Michelle Obama was also in attendance, and even though the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard" was among the sources that leaked the surprise cameo at the end of Clinton's speech by President Barack Obama.

Al Gore, Clinton's vice president, was giving commentary about the DNC on Current-TV, a network he owns, which probably doesn't advertise in "The Weekly Standard" and vice versa. Though there were no reports about what Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) was doing tonight; one could easily assume that he was eating a dozen Boston kreme donuts as the New York Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys during the same time of the convention on NBC.

SIDEBARS: Monday proved to be a luck y day for major league baseball teams which had Olympic athletes throwing out first pitches. In the nation's capital, gold-medal winning swimmer Katie Ledecky of Bethesda, Maryland, threw out the first pitch in the Washington Nationals' 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Similarly, three member of the U.S. Women's gymnastics team, also known as the Fierce Five, who team gold in London threw out the first pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers. McKayla Maroney, Gabbie Douglas and Kyla Ross hurled the first pitch in the Dodgers' 4-3 home win over the San Diego Padres.

http://www.fordmuseum.gov

http://www.clintonlibrary.gov

http://www.weeklystandard.com

http://www.current.com

Virtual Postcard from Florida...(even though I'm not really there)

Though we are not in Florida, and certainly not at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, which is 38 miles from Weekie Wachee where these real-life mermaids are from. Weekie Wachee Springs, which I visited as a teenager in 1984, was in danger of being closed, but it has become a state park in recent years.

I am cutting this tonight to hopefully watch some of Current-TV's coverage of the GOP convention with Cenk Uyugr, a fellow progressive Turkish-American, and former vice president Al Gore.

Michael Moore delivered a shocker today as the very left-of-century documentary filmmaker predicted that his fellow Michigan native Mitt Romney would win the election; hmmmmmmmmmm........At least, Moore is not in my home state of Virginia as we desperately need Democratic candidate and former Tim Kaine to win that now vacant U.S. Senate. I dislike his opponent so much that I refuse to mention him by name:)


We were actually hoping to see the Black Mormon Republican congressional candidate Mia Love, who is currently, the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, speak, as she seems to be quite a novelty on the political scene, but we missed it. Though the likes of Bill O have made it seem like newspaper aside from "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Times" are as far to the left as Radio Havana, the truth is that most newspapers in Utah appear to be giving Love very subjective love indeed.

Lastly, we heard today that Aly Raisman, the recent three-time medal winning Olympic gymnast, received an unwanted marriage proposal from some autograph seeker she didn't know; Raisman is only 18 years old!

And, finally we want to thank her teammate Gabby Douglas, who won all-around gold in London, and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn)., who will hopefully make Sean Hannity's head blow up live on Fox News one day, as they are now both following me on Twitter... so can you at:

http://www.twitter.com/Tilly70

http://www.visitflorida.com

http://www.weekiewachee.com

 http://www.current.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Al Gore

Today, we continue our month-long series of quotes from American vice presidents. Today, we quip Al Gore, 64, who served under President Bill Clinton, who is for some strange trending on Twitter today. My fellow progressive Turkish-American Cenk Uygur hosts "The Young Turks," a progressive political talk show on Gore's Current-TV at 7:00 p.m.

Gore is also known for being an advocate for global warming, which seems to be quite accurate given that Minnesota is now as hot as Alabama on any given day in July.

We have a quote from Walter Mondale, who served under President Jimmy Carter, on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here is Gore's quote:

"The day I made that statement about inventing the Internet, I was tired because I'd been up all night inventing the camcorder."http://www.algore.com
http://www.current.com

Quote of the Day/Week- John McCain

It seems that politics both here in the United States in Turkey, my late father's country, is always filled with irony.

Since I was very apprehensive about the possibility of a George W. Bush presidency in 2000 and I had sincere admiration for Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), even though I am a Democrat, I crossed party lines and voted for McCain who did in fact lost to Bush and (forgive the partisan commentary) my worst fears were fully realized.

I did actually end up voting for Al Gore in the general election of 2000.

Eight years later, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina Democratic Party and later Barack Obama in the general election. Thus, I am perhaps one of the very few people who have voted for McCain, Obama and Hillary Clinton (I voted for her husband twice as well).

Though he has become more conservative and less rebellious in recent years, I still admire McCain personally, especially since he had the courage to go after Rush Limbaugh in light of the far-right talk show host's sexist comments controversy.

Today, McCain was in the news for publicly slamming the media for going overboard in regards to the 'Etch-A-Sketch' gaffe made by Mitt Romney aide Eric Fehrstorm on CNN yesterday.

Here is the quote from McCain, 75, whose daughter Meghan McCain sent waves when admitted that she liked sex; we expect that would even make Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is believed to be one of the most liberal U.S. Senate members, blush:

"I don't doubt the sincerity of my Democratic friends. And they shouldn't doubt ours."

SIDEBAR: While the nation is abuzz with the Sweet 16 games underway tonight in Division One men's college basketball, over the weekend, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-4) beat Cabrini College (31-2) from Radnor Township, Pa., 63-60 for the Division Three basketball title in my hometown of Salem,Va., last weekend. The other two teams in that Final Four were MIT and Illinois Wesleyan. Chris Davis lead the winning Warhawks with 12 points; John Boyd scored 18 points for the losing Cavaliers.

Quote of the Week/Day- Che Guevara

For the record: "No, I'm not a socialist, but I would be one if I lived in Provo, Utah."

Nevertheless, the Argentinian radical revolutionary figure Che Guevara (1928-1967) who was executed in Bolivia at age 38, has been good for massive hit totals on our two blogs. And, personally, I'd love to have this puppet for Christmas, if not to see the shocked look on a conservative friend's face.

By the way, we are dedicating to one Paul Doss of Roanoke, Va., who wrote in a letter-to-editor to "The Roanoke Times" in which he defended folks like Donald Trump and Uncle Scrooge. He added that 'anyone who wants socialism should move to Europe.' Of course, my response to that is that if Newt Gingrich becomes president, many of us may actually opt for Cuba.

And, while researching this piece, we found that many actors have played Che Guevara on film, including Antonio Banderas (in "Evita," 1996), Benicio Del Toro, Gael Garcia Bernali and most astonishingly Omar Sharif (?!). Yes, the Egyptian actor who is still alive played the title role in "Che!" (the dubious 1969 version, not the one which got a Criterion Edition release). Of course, in this same version of Che, the late Jack Palance (1919-2006) played Fidel Castro.

So, irregradless if your political legions are with Ron Paul or Noam Chomsky, here is the quote from Che:

"In a revolution one wins or dies, if it is a real one."

This our first in a month-long series of quotes from famous Latin Americans.

SIDEBAR ONE: The road trip between the two Charleston takes C) 8 hours, 30 minutes (see Saturday's entry).

SIDEBAR TWO: Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast national, who is the main star for English soccer power Chelsea, scored two goals in UEFA Champions play for a 3-0 victory over Spanish team Valencia. This helped Chelsea win Group E.

Here is a partial rundown of the eight games played today in Europe; the stars indicate the teams that advance:

Shankhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 2 *APOEL (Cyprus) 0

Porto (Portugal) 0 *Zenit (Russia) 0, tie

*Barcelona 4 BATE (Bulgaria) 0

*AC Milan 2, Plzen (Czech Rep.) 2, tie

SIDEBAR THREE: Last night, my fellow Turkish-American progressive Cenk Uygur made an impressive debut with Current TV on his show "The Young Turks" as he took great digs at Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann. But, my favorite segment was when he uncovered footage from Fox News of some right-wing nut pundit saying that the new Muppets movie "The Muppets" is encouraging children to become communists. And, the reason for this is because the film suggests big oil companies don't have our best interests at heart; uh huh! Tonight, Uygur welcomes Al Gore as his guest.

Coming Attractions: Here is What Might be Coming Next Here

Here are three blog entries I will be trying to get in, though like everyone else I've my fair share of unexpected surprises lately, and of course, most of those have been pies in the proverbial face ala the late Soupy Sales:

1. This week, we had a chance to watch Keith Olbermann's new version of "Countdown" on Current TV. Interestingly enough, Al Gore, who is the CEO of the relatively new network, was the featured guest that night.

2. As always, I will be disclosing the last ten films I've seen. One slight dilemma is: should I count the two-part film biopic of Che Guevara simply entitled "Che" (both films combined last four and a half hours) as two films or one. The Internet Movie Database actually counts them as two. Though Part One, was filmed mostly in Puerto Rico as opposed to Cuba, Part Two was filmed on location in Bolivia.

3. Here in North Carolina, there is the phrase "serving everyone from Murphy to Manteo," these two zip codes are actually the most outer points of the state as Murphy, which is the western mountains, actually borders Georgia. And, Manteo is located in the Outer Banks. Andy Griffith reportedly lives there. Next week, we hope to see just how far apart Murphy and Manteo really are.

_If you want to go to the movies and you live in the Tarheel State, the Graham Cinema in Graham (next to Burlington, and relatively close to Chapel Hill and Greensboro) is now showing "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" and "The Hangover 2."

But, the kicker is the cinema's telephone line which features politically incorrect jokes from Tim Bob. This week, Tim Bob has some sultry tales and jokes about life on the golf course. To hear it for yourself, dial 336-226-1488. The line is often busy.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Bush 'Executes' 253 People

Perhaps "The Onion" decided to tweet this faux story they ran back in 2000 because Illinois officially abolished the death penalty today, but we just loved the headline even though 'the story' is almost 11 years old:

"Bush executes 253 New Mexico Democrats"

"The Onion" is a satire newspaper/magazine which now has its own show on IFC. In the 2001 fake news article, the publication said George W. Bush ordered the execution of 253 Democrats in Las Cruces, N. Mex., so he could get the state's five electoral points away from Al Gore.

They even had this great faux quote from the ever-diabolical Karl Rove: "We express great sorrow for the families of the condemned."

We must admit that as much as we love "The Onion," they have gone over the line at times. I do think the 2009 faux story proclaiming that female Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson from Iowa had died after a fall from the uneven bars was in remarkable bad taste. And, the then-17-year-old gymnast said she strongly disapproved what "The Onion" did.

But, the 2000 classic faux story about the 'actions' of Bush is vintage "Onion" material. And, of course, Fox News runs stories which are just as ridicilous, but they pass them off as genuine news!

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Tommorow, I am hoping to finally post the last ten films I've seen. It is going to be quite a strange list indeed!

Celebrity Tweets- Kim Kardashian

I joined Twitter a few months ago, and ever since I have followed political figures ranging from Al Gore to John McCain as well as some celebrities who have less sway on Capitol Hill. Among those is reality tv star/rich girl Kim Kardashian who shared what she was doing for the holidays with those of us who are following her (should I publicly admit this?!):

"How is everyone spending their Thanksgiving tomorrow? I am cooking! Any good recipes?"

Know Your Congress Reps and Senators (Entry 14 of 21)

This is the first entry in this series since May! For today's piece, we choose the new U.S. Senator from Minnesota Al Franken (D) a former stand-up comedian and "Saturday Night Live" writer who now joins Sen. James Webb (D-Va)*, the co-screenwriter for "Rules of Engagement" as the only members of Congress with a screenwriting credit though I'm not sure Franken wants to fess up for "Stuart Saves His Family" (1995).

*- a presumption on our part

Here are some other fun facts about Franken:

_Born May 21, 1951, in New York

_Beat his opponent Norm Coleman by a mere 215 votes (out of 2.8 million votes cast)

_Author of #1 best-seller "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."

_Appeared as actor in the 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate."

_Hosted radio program "The Al Franken Show" (2004-05)

_Cousin of MSNBC's Bob Franken

_Wrote for "SNL" with partner Tom Davis from 1975-80 and again from 85-95.

_Created Sturat Smalley and interviewed Al Gore as Smalley for 2002 "SNL" show.

_Left "SNL" after losing Weekend Update segment to Norm MacDonald.

_Is first member of Congress who was a stand-up comedian, though amazingly enough Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct) has performed stand-up as well!