GOP Debate from Iowa Minus Trump (3 of 3)

Before we get to our final entry on this blog about tonight's GOP debate from Des Moines, Iowa, let's say Gunaydin/ Good Morning to our American Ambassador John Bass in Ankara, Turkey, where it is now 8:30 a.m. Yes, I know there is a less than one percent chance he reads this blog....

For your knowledge, the man at the top is Gov. Chris Christie and the man at the bottom is Sen. Ted Cruz, the state capitol building in Des Mones (not where the Fox News debate took place) is in the middle.

Here are the tweets:

1) Peter Beinart: Chris Christie__ the fact that your wife was near Ground Zero on 9/11 is not a foreign policy credential.

2) David French (conservative): Jeb Bush is right_he's been out front on ISIS strategy__and getting lawyers off the damn backs of the military__Yes!

3) Andrew C. McCarthy (conservative, no not the brat pack actor from the '80s): You think something about Muslims is suspicious.....and Chris Christie says you're a Sharia crazy.

4) Meghan McCain (conservative, daughter of Sen. John McCain): This is a completely different and more substantive debate with Trump off the stage.

5) Patton Oswalt: Mohammad Atta tried to fly a plane into my wife on 9/11........Chris Christie....

6) Spartan Basketball: With 513 wins at Michigan State, Coach Tom Izzo moves ahead of Gene Keady for second-most victories at a Big Ten school (yeah, we did this to play a mind game on you)

7) Zeynep Tufekci: They were trying to out-Trump each other yet they got hit with tough Qs while Trump didn't? Umm.....maybe, I'll read this Art of the Deal book.....

8) Cenk Uygur (liberal): Ben Carson just copied and pasted his closing statement. Too much effort to come up with his own conclusion.

9) Michael Medved (conservative): Maybe Trump's strategy worked....in his absence, chief rival Cruz had his worst debate, by far.....

No Blog Entry Today as I am Sick as a Cat (we couldn't resist)

We believe this is a Van cat or an Angoran cat both of which are native to Turkey. We also think this image is from a cat club in Ankara, Turkey, which is the capital.

I suppose this is a good time to mention that The Beatles' tribute band Abbey Road Live, our of Athens, Ga., will play at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro (Chapel Hill), NC, on Jan. 17th at 9:00 p.m., and they are offering a matinee show on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Prices for the Friday show range from $10-12 and the Saturday matiness is $8 for children and $10 for adults.

We also want to salute our good friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, for both the 10th anniversary of his blog (he is two years ahead of us) and his 5,000th blog entry. The latest entry is a moving tribute to Bill Overstreet, a World War II fighter pilot, from Roanoke, Va., our hometown, who died this week.

Knight is not to be confused with our other friend (well, in the Facebook sense) Keith Knight, who is an award-winning cartoonist for his work with "K-Chronicles" and his daily comic strip "Knight Life."

http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com

http://www.kchronicles.com


http://www.catchannel.com

http://www.catscradle.com

http://www.catchannel.com

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes (or less.........) Turkey's six largest cities

Hmmm..............trying to post a blog entry in 3.5 minutes, which is also the same length as the Elvis Costello anthem "Peace, Love and Understanding," is always a challenge.

First, let's say hello to our fans in Latvia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, three countries which didn't exist when I was born in 1970!

Also, in order to arbitrarily increase hits today, we will mention Selma Blair, Anna Paquin and Miss Utah (alas with this compressed amount of time we don't have time to ask Google for her name!).

Here are the six largest cities in Turkey, my late father's country, which is in many times my country as well. We also like to take a moment to dedicate his entry to Duran Adam/The Standing Man (yes, we don't have to ask Bing what his name is as well) :

1. Istanbul (pictured) 13 million

2. Ankara (the capital) 4.5 million

3. Izmir 3.3 million

4. Bursa 1.9 million

5. Adana 1.57 million

6. Gaziantep 1.5 million


http://www.turkey.org

http://www.tourismturkey.org

Top 10- Best Countries I've Been To (Besides Turkey and the USA)

We are dedicating today's entry to students at Berlin Senior High School in Berlin, NH, where the principal is Gary Brisson, the school nickname is The Mountaineers and the school newspaper is "Mountaineer Today."

While school at UNC starts on Monday and at my alma mater Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, Va., begins on Aug. 23, students at BSHS have summer vacation until Sept. 1 when school starts (must be nice!).

Berlin, NH, is incidentally where John Irving's famed novel "The Hotel New Hampshire" takes place. It was made into a film with Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster in 1984. I found a copy at an antique store in Fairfield, Va. (between Lexington and Staunton) which I read during a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was actually better than the movie (and I'm not someone who always says that!).

I thought it would be quite subjective to put the USA, the country of my birth and residency, and Turkey, where my late my father was from and a place I have been to many times on the list since that would be blatantly subjective and we are not working for Fox News!

So, here is the list:

1. Holland
2.Canada
3. France
4. Guatemala
5. Greece (I know this will not go well with my friends in Ankara!)
6. Italy
7. Hungary
8. Germany
9. Belgium
10. England/UK

It should be pointed out that while I have been to both Germany and New Hampshire, I haven't been to either Berlin!

And, there are many countries on this list, including England, Hungary and Italy that I have not been to in a very, very long time (since I was a child in the '70s).

Cyprus and Luxembourg both just missed the cut.