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

Olympic Chat on Twitter- Losing in Soccer the Hard Way

We learned many things tonight on Twitter between the hours of 19:00-20:00 (New York time), some of which actually spoiled tonight's NBC coverage of the 2012 London Olympics tonight (we are the last people in the world to see the games here on the east coast, except for those who reside in Hawaii which is six hours behind the east coast).

We also encountered a fervent Greek nationalist who was boasting of how Greece has proven its vast athletic superiority over the whole world with two bronze medals, including one from Ilias Iliadis in men's judo (90-kg); this would have been fine with us except the flag-waving fanatic had to mention that it was two more than Turkey had won (no medals so far for my father's country).

Then, this person had to add that Turkey lost to the United States, my native country by a 89-58 margin in women's basketball. Turkey did prevail handily over China by an 82-55 margin in the team's next game, and Greece lost to Team America in the exact same sport by a 89-58 margin in Riga, Latvia, on July 3, 2009.

Of course, we have nothing against Greeks or Greek-Americans in general, but there are jingoists who unfortunately soil the Olympic spirit.

As for the tweets we read tonight, some interesting things were discussed; here are six of them:

1) @TheSun_Football: "BREAKING NEWS: Great Britain lose to South Korea 5-4 on penalties at Olympic football quarter-final stage (The image above is of English soccer legend Frank Lampard, but it is not from today's game)."

2) @Current:  "Sex, training and winning the gold: @jonnymoseley reflects of the life of an Olympian (this is actually in reference to Jonny Moseley, an American skier who fared well at the 1996 Nagano Winter Olympics)

3) @Olympic: "Total Gold Count: USA with 26, China with 25, GBR with 14."

4) @SpencerGeorgeM: "Just got really emotional watching the recap of how Jessica Ennis won the Gold. Huge congratulations to her. Once again proud to be British." (Ennis is pictured in the center).

5) Chet_Cannon: "You deserve a tardy slip @joejones. Wow @Aly_Raisman and the women gymnasts are incredible....GO USA!" (Aly Raisman is part of the Fab Five gold-medal winning USA women's gymnastics team; she is pictured below).

6) @HuffPostComedy: "If you're competing in the #Olympics you probably have no life."


http://www.jessicaennis.net

http://www.usagym.org/

http://www.haaretz.com

http://www.olympicair.com

http://www.turkishairlines.com

Olympic Stories- Beth Tweedle of Great Britain

The age of 27 is a prime age for many athletes, including those who play basketball, baseball or soccer. But, that is not the case for women's gymnastics as American gymnast Alicia Sacramone, 24, and Nastia Liukin, 22, are likely finished with the sport after not qualifying for the U.S.A women's gymnastics team, which won gold at 2012 London Olympics.

Enter Beth Tweedle. The British/English gymnast reportedly wanted to hang in to compete at the Olympics in her home country. Tweedle is a three-time world champion on bars and the 2009 world champion on floor exercise. She is the most recognized British gymnast in her history, and one of the most famous female athletes in the entire United Kingdom.

Yesterday, NBC, which is televising the Olympics in the United States, focused solely on Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, the two Americans vying for gold, which Douglas received as well as their two Russian competitors Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, who won silver and bronze respectively.

NBC did not even show one event with Tweedle, who finished an impressive sixth in the all-around competition with a 170.495.

On Monday, Tweedle seemingly has a respectable shot at winning an individual apparatus medal on the bars, her specialty. And, according "The Daily Mail," an English newspaper, gymnastics icon Olga Korbut thinks Tweedle has an outstanding shot at winning gold on bars.

http://www.bethtweedle.com