Quote of the Day/Week- Stefania Fernandez

And, we fully expect that this image of Stefania Fernandez, Miss Universe 2009, will boost out hits total for the day and week. Fernandez, 21, is one of many women from Venezeula who have won the coveted Miss Universe pageant, which we believe is one of Donald Trump's media entities.

Sadly, on Dec. 17, another former Miss Universe/Venezuela 2001 Eva Ekvall, died of breast cancer at age 28 in Houston.

Fernandez became the first woman crowned Miss Universe by a title-holder from her country as she recieved the crown from Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe/Venezuela 2008.

Though she is perhaps not as politically active as many American celebrities like pop-star "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson who endorsed the libertarian-leaning Republican candidate Ron Paul today, it is widely believed that Fernandez opposes the policies of eccentric, far-left president Hugo Chavez.

Fernandes is actually of Ukrainian heritage.

Here is her quote:

"We've already reached the same level as men."

Quote of the Week-Che Guevara

Since the traditional Socialist holiday May Day was Sat., May 1st, we thought we would feature quotes from left-wing radicals throughout this month even though I myself am a moderate left-wing radical (that is a joke...all of us who are Democrats in either Virginia or North Carolina have pretty much been accused of being with the Reds and we aren't talking about the baseball team in Ohio).

Today, we thought we'd start off with the radical of the radicals, the late Che Guevara (I thought his last name was spelled Guevarra....oops!):

"It's a sad thing not to have friends, but it is an even sadder thing not to have enemies."

SIDEBAR: In a related matter, I saw the following tweet from Mashable who is really Scotish technocrat Pete Cashmore (yes, I have no idea what a technocrat is either!)last week: "Hugo Chavez asks Fidel Castro to Join Twitter."

We could not make this stuff up!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Gumby and Pokey

If it seems surreal that a conventional American soap opera like "The Young and the Restless" is popular in Turkey (my late father's country), it may seem even stranger that the 1950s American claymation cartoon "Gumby" which featured Pokey the Horse is popular in Venezuela!

According to the NPR series "The World," which airs at 3:00 p.m. daily on 90.7 WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill, NC) , Gumby toys are among those which are most sought for at The Socialist Toy Fair that is currently happening in that country's capital of Caracas.


The report from Anahi Aradas indicated that the cartoon is one that Hugo Chavez admires a great deal.

I did not get acquainted with Gumby until Eddie Murphy made fun of Gumby on "Saturday Night Live" when I was a kid. He had the trademark line: "I am Gumby, damnit."

"Gumby" was created by Art Clokey, who is still alive in his late 80s. Clokey also produced the Biblical-themed cartoon "Davey and Goliath," which was funded by the Lutheran Church.

A great documentary about the landmark animation series called "Gumby Dharma," whichhas aired on The Sundance Channel, explored the Buddhist philosophy behind the show.

This sort of reminds me of how the Polish cartoon "Lolek and Bolek" (now available on dvd in America) was the only cartoon allowed to be shown on television in the Islamic Republic of Iran!