Tweets of the Day: All Things Damascus

Here are a sample of tweets from objective and subjective sources including former Cong. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who was one of the most liberal members of the house, and Liz Cheney, the daughter of Dick Cheney, the 43rd president of the USA (forgive the political humor), both of whom are against a possible American military strike on Syria. Both Kucinich (top) and Ms. Cheney (bottom) are pictured here.

I will be put in my subjective view and openly state that while I am personally center-left politically, I am for military intervention in Syria, as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt are overwhelmed with refugees. The Turkish newspaper "Today's Zaman" said as many as one million refugees will have fled to Turkey from Syria by the end of the year.

Here are the tweets:

1) Dennis Kucinich @DennishKucinich: "#Syria: The threat to US credibility isn't what happens if we don't intervene, but what happens if we do, @SenMikeLee (yes, Kucinich acutally quoted far-right Tea Partier Sen. Mike Lee, Republican from Utah).

2) National Review @NRO (a conservative magazine): "If Obama isn't seeking permission to wage war, why is he in Congress at all?" #Syria

3) Politico @Politico: "Even as he makes the case for a military strike against #Syria, John Kerry is careful to keep the light on for Russia."

4) Mustafa Akyol @AkyolinEnglish  (Akyol is prominent Turkish journalist): "Al-Assad should be bombed soon and hard."

5) Syria Freedom @FreeingSyria: "Obama to make G20 push for #Syria strike_ US President Barack Obama gives a press conference in Stockholm."

6) Katrina vandenHeuvel @KatrinaNation (She is the managing editor of the liberal magazine "The Nation"): "73% MoveOn members say Congress should oppose authorization to use military force in Syria."

7) The Hill @hillballotbox: Liz Cheney says she'd vote against Syrian strikes.

8) WeeklyStandard @weeklystandard (a conservative magazine): National Review: "Yes" to U.S. Action in Syria. The editors of National Review endorse military action in Syria."

9) JerodPolis @jaredpolis Cong. Jason Polis (D-Colo.): "Sounds like I will be voting on military action in Syria! Send me information/articles to read as I study the issue to make a decision."

10) TheDailyEdge @TheDailyEdge: "Rick Santorum: I wanted to strike #Syria right up to the moment Obama said we should. Now, I think it's a bad idea."

11) Roll Call @rollcall: "Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.): "Senators will get DVD of CIA evidence showing 'horrendous' effects of chemical weapons."

12) BBCWorld @BBCWorld: "US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power accuses Russia of holding security council hostage on #Syria."


http://thehill.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/

http://thewhitepath.com/ (Mustafa Akyol's web site)

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.weeklystandard.com/

http://www.nationalreview.com/

Return of Friday Night Tweets: All Things Washington D.C.

Greetings to our blog readers in Mexico, South Africa and India. Tonight, if you only learn one thing from blog hopping, we hope that you take away this fact: Elin Suleymanov, we hope we spelled his name right, is the Azerbaijani ambassador to the United States.

Embassies were the focus of one tweet tonight, while others dealt with political issues du jour. It should also be pointed that unlike the web site for the Roanoke Tea Party (sorry, we aren't giving ou their link), which actually attacked Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia (?!), we are being nice to Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va), even though all of us here have voted for Barack Obama four times each.

Here are eight tweets which have been posted in the last 24 hours:

1. WNYC @ WNYC (NPR station in New York): Does NYC's density help protect elderly who live alone from dying in heat waves?

2. The Hill @TheHill, which is a DC-based newspaper covering Capitol Hill: "U.S. to reopen 18 of 19 embassies that were closed to terror threats. (Yemen is the lone American embassy which is not re-opening).

3. Politico @politico: "One take away from Obama's press conference. He doesn't like Vladamir Putin, not one bit."

4. The Vancouver Sun @VancouverSun: "Gay Russians seeking refuge in Canada to escape homophobic news laws."

5. Mormon Democrats @MormonDems: "#LiberalsGetUpsetWhen Republicans side with the 3 % of climate scientists who don't think #globalwarming is a problem."

6. Carson Daly @CarsonDaly: "And the Emmy goes to...........Jon Voight for Ray Donovan #wordscomingsoon"

7. Katrina vanden Heuvel @KatrinaNation: "A party that defies demographic reality, grounded in white resentment, may well doom itself to permanent minority-dom or political suicide. (Katrina is the managing editor of the liberal magazine "The Nation," pictured center. The publication has made national news for its spat with Wal-Mart over workers' wages).

8. Morgan Griffith @RepMGriffith: "Ok, Mr. President, show me the "dishes!" Show me the FISA court opinions, etc., so we can have the discussion you invited in your press conference." (Cong. Griffith is pictured bottom, he was previously the Republican leader in Virginia's House of Delegates).

For more tweets from the night go to our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com


Other Links:

http://www.azembassy.us/3/33.html

http://thehill.com/

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.utahdemocrats.org/

http://morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://www.thenation.com/

Top 10 More Things To Do List

Well, as it turns out, there are some more 'things to do' that we were not aware of:

1. Buy groceries

2. Decide on Cat's Cradle shows (music venue near Chapel Hill, NC)

3. Look up comic books values

4. Read, compare and contrast "The Nation" and "National Review"

5. Read, compare and contrast "The Weekly Standard" and "Mother Jones"

6. Make some Counter Culture Coffee

7. See what the weather in Istanbul, Turkey, is like

8. See what the weather in Trenton, New Jersey, is like

9. Avoid Blacksburg, Va., at all costs, as Virginia is having commencement this weekend

10. Let the freaking cat in

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)

GOP Convention Day One (Delayed Due to Weather) Tweets

Today was supposed to be Day One of the exciting Republican National Convention.........oh well!

Of course, by now, you've figured out that this blog has a strong center-left, pro-Democrat bias, nevertheless, we feel for our Republican friends who might well be stuck in their Tampa, Fla., hotel rooms watching "The O'Reilly Factor" or "Antiques Roadshow" tonight.

But, there are still lots and lots of tweets that we can log here, including one from Callista Gingrich, the 46-year-old wife of Newt Gingrich. We were stunned to find out that Cally, born on March 4, 1966, is exactly four years older than Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be, well, me.

Robert Costa of the online version of the conservative magazine "National Review" wrote about Newt U, Mr. Gingrich's new workshop at the convention which will be a week-long series of lectures on right-leaning issues, such as Medicare-reform proposals and free-market principles. Newt U was also covered by National Public Radio (NPR), the leading commercial-free radio news source in America.

We should explain that the images above are of: 1) Cuban hats; according to Hats on the Belfry, an east coast hat store, fedoras value for between $25-59 2) Cally Gingrich herself and 3) Sri Lankan Tea: Yes, that is a dig at the Tea Party.

Here are the seven selected tweets from this afternoon/early evening east coast USA time:

1) @TeaPartyCat (Top Conservative Cat, actually a liberal satirist): "GOP: While Donald Trump will not be attending the #GOP2012 convention, he says he remains available to the press to make stupid comments."

2) @RedRoadRail: "Tea Party takes credit for pushing Mitt Romney to the right."

3) @seanagnew (Sean Agnew, a self-described Reagan conservative): "Must Eat Tampa: Hugo's Spanish Restaurant THE Best Cuban sandwich (Hyde Park).

4) @thenation ("The Nation," a liberal magazine): "The Tea Party came to Tampa, but not to celebrate the Republican nominee."

5) @DailyKos (The Daily Kos, a liberal blog): "Mitt Romney comes full circle on abortion: 'It's been settled for some time in the courts.'"

6) @NPRPolitics (NPR Politics): "Herman Cain and his ABCs: He sees Blacks Turning to the GOP."

7) @callygingrich (Callista Gingrich): "Looking forward to offering remarks with @newtgingrich this Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

http://www.ambassadoroftea.com

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com

http://www.stylesalvage.blogspot.com

http://www.newt.org

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.southfloridateaparty.org

http://www.natuionalreview.com

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com

For other tweets, check out our sister blog at:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.com

Saturday Tweets_ Patio Party Time

Let's jump in the pool, here are some tweets from the 15:00-16:00 (3:00-4:00 p.m.) hour New York time today; at that hour, it was 4:00 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8:00 p.m., in London, England, 10:00 p.m. in Istanbul and 11:00 p.m. in Dubai:

1) @LailaLalami (Laila Lalami is a writer whose work frequently appears in "The Nation"): "What a difference 4 years make. A majority of Democrats support keeping Guantanamo open and approve of drone program."

2) @GroveWinery (a winery near Greensboro, NC): "Patio Party! Sunday! $2.99 glasses of wine all day_ Readings from local novelist_ Free food tasting."

3) @WVUSportsBuzz (West Virginia University sports): "The WVU volleyball team competed in its annual Gold-Blue match today with Team Gold claiming victory."

4) @tnr ("The New Republic"): "Will the Obamas be able to convince people who already support him to vote."

5) @ncatsuaggies (North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, NC): "Welcome to all our new followers. We are 5 followers short of 500. Who should we follow to even things out?"

6) @davidmtset (Dave Test): "The internet is a better place beacuse @GMinusG exists." (referring to the "Garfield" satire "Garfield Minus Garfield" with no fat cat).

7) @LOLGOP: "Paul Ryan taking over your Medicare is like Mitt Romney and Bain taking over your factory." (Yes, this tweet is the reason for the purple elephant).

http://www.lailalami.com

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.grovewinery.com

http://www.letsgomountaineers.net

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.ncat.edu

http://www.garfieldminusgarfield.net  

Virtual Postcard from Colorado-The Boulder Theatre

Well, we are no longer in the great western state of Colorado, but we were there last week. This image is of The Boulder Theatre in downtown Boulder, Colo., the venue no longer shows films on a regular basis, but it does host traveling bands. On Thursday, the hip folk band Trampled by Turtles plays there, and on June 1st, the '80s band The BoDeans, one of the best bands out of Wisconsin, comes to the 80302 zip code.

While we were visiting Boulder, we learned that Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the capital of a remote former Soviet republic- of all places, was one of Boulder's main sister cities. For the residents of Boulder, Dushanbe's mayor Maksud Ikramov commissioned local Tajiki artists to build a teahouse which was disassembled and shipped to Boulder.

Boulder, which is home to the Colorado University Buffaloes, also has an excellent bookstore called The Boulder Book Store, where one can find both the liberal magazine "The Nation" and the conservative journal "The National Review," which is fitting that Colorado is a swing state in this year's election. Like most college towns, except Lynchburg, Va., and Provo, Utah, Boulder is a fairly liberal place and that is evident by its many marijuana dispensaries. Local news sources said several such businesses were closing due to their close proximity to schools (1,000 feet is apparently where authorities draw the line).

Colorado is also home to Colorado Springs, an evangelical Mecca (is that an oxy moron, or what) which home to Focus on the Family and several other right-wing groups.

The Boulder Book Store is hosting author Geraldine Brooks for a book signing of "Caleb's Crossing" on May 19th.

Boulder is also sister cities with Lhasa, Tibet, Yateras, Cuba, and Kisumu, Kenya.

Our special 'virtual postcard' greetings go out to blog readers from Chile, Lebanon and New Zealand, who visited our blog today!

http://www.bouldermmdispensary.comhttp://www.boulderteahouse.comhttp://www.bouldertown.com

Silly Picture to Fill Space- A Vietnamese Pig

We noticed that some folks from Pakistan were checking out our blog today, which we really appreciate. Alas, this image might make them inclined to check the web page of "The Nation" (ironically a Pakistani nationalist publication called "The Nation" shares its' name with a very liberal magazine in America which features an always biting column from Eric Alterman).

I do actually sympathize with folks in Pakistan because my late Turkish father Mehmet Gokbudak forbade me to eat pork, but I was allowed to read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss.

But, hopefully, they will still like us in Slovenia!

For those traveling through North Carolina, the town of Lexington, between Greensboro and Charlotte (well closer to Greensboro), is said to have some of the best barbecue in the South. And, Google recommends Speedy's Barbecue, which has a web site (speedysbbqinnc.com) and their phone number is (336) 248-2410. We have never eaten there ourselves.

Happy Belated 50th Birthday to President Barack Obama

Everyone from the far-right nuts at Fox News to the very liberal idealists at "The Nation" seem to be criticizing President Barack Obama, but I'm fairly pleased. However, even though I'm a fairly partisan Democrat (in the South, most Republican are Yosemite Sam gun nuts, radical Chicken Little evangelists or militant patriots with American flag shower curtains or a combination of the three, perhaps it's differnt in Maine. Then again, maybe not!) I must find his Blackberry obsession a bit annoying.

I actually first heard the term Blackberry in reference to George H.W. Bush, who we like to call Papa Smurf here. As ironic as the world is, perhaps Obama blackberries Papa Smurf more than George W. Bush does. Where is he these days? Yeah, I imagine he is on a power lawnmower in Crawford, Texas, too!

At any rate, happy belated 50th birthday to President Obama. We gather from Politico.com and NPR's "All Things Considered" that he had quite a bash with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Tom Hanks and Tim Kaine, the former governor of Virginia and now official U.S. Senate candidate on-hand.

Quote of the Day- Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The editorial board here at "The Daily Vampire" which consists of managing editor (mr) Tilly Gokbudak (that's me) and a Honduran intern named Javier Gonzales (actually, a fictional person) decided late this afternoon to feature quips from literary and creative radicals for the month of August.

So, we begin with the late, great American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who penned "Slaughterhouse Five," which was available at the Shenandoah County Jail Library in Woodstock, Va. (I am not making this up!), at least it was when I profiled the correctional facility as a reporter some 11 years ago.

According to Stephen King in King's book "On Writing," Vonnegut would type the same page 75 times until he got it just right. This practice sounds a bit like the perfectionism of the late film director Stanley Kubrick, but I don't if I should mention that since King reportedly disdains the 1980 film version of King's novel "The Shinning." And we like Stephen King. In fact, we are wondering if the temperature in King's hometown of Bangor, Maine, is less than 97 degrees as it is here in Mount Airy, NC, at the moment (not really where I am at).

The liberal magazine "The Nation" has apparently been posting some famous quips made in its pages over the years, and Vonnegut made this provocative statement in the magazine's Nov. 28th, 1981 issue, which we imagine the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., (a real person) might not appreciate:

"God shouldn't be put in charge of everything until we get to know him a little bit better."

SIDEBAR: On a more somber note, we want to send our condolences to the family of Gizem Dogan, a 17-year-old Norwegian girl of Turkish heritage who was killed at the summer camp in Norway last week. All total, the attacks in Oslo and on the island where the summer camps took place, claimed 77 lives. Both the NPR news program "The World" and the English-language Turkish newspaper "Today's Zaman" reported that Turkey's Foreign Minsiter Ahmet Davutoglu attended Dogan's funeral in Trondheim, Norway.

Gizem Dogan is perhaps the most high-profile casualty of a violent action in the Turkish media since Furkan Dogan, (we assume they are not related) a 19-year-old Turkish-American from New York state was killed by Israeli commandos during the infamous armed raid fiasco aboard the Marmara Flotilla, which aimed at giving food and aid to Palestinians, in June of 2010.

We learned today that Furkan Dogan's father filed a lawsuit in an American court against the Israeli government in May.

Status Update- I am Vowing to Give Up French Fries

Ironically, I have decided to give up french fries starting on August 1st, even though I have nothing against France, a day before Bastille Day. Some believe that french fries actually originated in Belgium, which is celebrating its Independence Day on July 15th (Friday). And, there was the 'freedom fries' during the outset of the war in Iraq, which was started in part by Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC) who ironically would later question the George W. Bush administration's results with the Mesopatamian Mess.


According to "The Urban Dictionary," the French responded by calling American cheese, idiot cheese. Hopefully, this is all behind us now!

But, irregardless, for the sake of my own health, I am hoping that the fries I had today at a Burger King in Danville, Va., are the last ones I eat for quite a while!

I am reminded of how Morgan Spurlock, the documentary filmmaker who is my age and is from Beckely, West Virginia, about 80 miles from Roanoke, Va., where I grew up, when he went on his fast food odyseey for the film "Supersize Me." Spurlock's latest film "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" has just been released on dvd.

SIDEBAR: Dave Zirin, the sportswriter, for the liberal publication "The Nation" has written a column posted today which states that he will refuse to watch tonight's All-Star Baseball Game from Arizona because of the state's draconian SB-1070 bill, which takes radical, draconian measures to try to curb illegal immigration. As Zirin pointed out, many of today's top major league baseball players are from Latin America.

I am actually not big on boycotts for the simple reason that if you are a political conservative boycotting Citgo because it has petrol from Venezuela or if you are a liberal boycotting BP because of the notorious oil spill in Louisiana last year, you may well end up sitting on the side of the road.

But, I sympathize with Zirin's sentiments. As it is, due to time constraints, I have not watched a major or minor league baseball game all year. How are those Toledo Mudhens doing?

Special Quote of the Week- Upton Sinclair

Today, we start our series of quips from novelists past and present with a quote from the great American liberal muckracking author Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) who is most known for "The Jungle" (1906).

That docu-novel was adapted into an excellent 2004 graphic novel by Peter Kuper and Emily Russell.

Sinclair's other famous novel "Oil!" (1927) was made into the much-acclaimed 2007 film "There Will Be Blood," which won its lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis his second Oscar.

Sinclair is one of several famous people who were born in Baltimore, including Babe Ruth, Eubie Blake, David Byrne and John Waters.

One can probably find several copies of "The Jungle" at the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., which is one of my favorite bookstores in America.

On May, the Boulder Bookstore will host guest author Josh Chetwynd who will talk about his new book "The History of Balls," which is about things like softballs, basketballs and dodgeballs. Yeah, we agree that the title might mislead people.

Here is the quote from Sinclair:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it."

SIDEBAR_ Those who like Upton Sinclair, such as myself, probably like reading "The Nation" magazine as well. Like their conservative counterparts, the web page of "The Nation" (thenation.com) has lots of articles on Osama bin Laden's killing in Pakistan and what might happen next.

But, the current issue also focuses on how the Republican jobs plan has, in the words of "The Nation," become a total failure.

Some interesting things about the notorious terrorist which haven't been reported much in the media, as a youngster he apparently enjoyed watching "Bonanza" and Bruce Lee kung-fu movies. Wow! is what I said too.

We hope everyone is enjoying their lunch hours in Los Angeles, perhaps you are dinning at the Mandolin Grille (I've actually never been to L.A.!)

Quote of the Week: Harry Truman

Hello and Welcome to our listeners in Hilo, Hawaii; War, West Virginia; Calgary, Canada; Anqtigua, Guatemala; Quito, Ecuador; Lisbon, Portugal; Accra, Ghana; Eskisehir, Turkey; Qom, Iran; Tora Bora, Afghanistan; and Pyongyang, North Korea.

Forgive the BBC World Service satire as we focus on tonight's entry dedicated to our great American president Harry Truman. One can visit the Harry Truman Library in Independence, Mo, where there is a current timely exhibit on "Memories of Korea" until Dec. 31.

Here is our Truman quote, which is part of our focus on the last 12 presidents before Barack Obama (FDR-GWB):

"A president needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it."

SIDEBAR: Former president Jimmy Carter will be at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, but there are many other guests of interest this week, including author Noah Feldman who has a new book on FDR's battles with The Supreme Court on Monday. And, on Wednesday, one of favorite unapologetics liberal journalists Matt Taibbi of "Roling Stone" who coined the term: "Medicare-motor-scooter conservatives" in article about the big Tea Party convention in Louisville, Ky., a few months ago will be talking at Politics and Prose about his new book "Griftopia."

Today, the bookstore had this very amusing tweet: Overheard_ "This bookstore is like my outlet mall," we take that as a compliment.

SIDEBAR TWO: Today's trending topics on Twitter and AOL are Obama Busted Lip, Willie Nelson, Wal-Mart, Kim Kardashian, Hallee Berry, Signs of a Drinking Problem, File for unemployment.

We will add Noam the Gnom and Zinn the Mink which are gnomes in homage of Noam chomskey and the late Howard Zinn that the liberal "The Nation" magazine are trying to sell to help them compensate for a half-million deficit. We imagine this will work better than trying to get subscriptions from folks in places like Provo, Utah, Lynchburg, Va. and Paducah, Ky.

Top Ten Popular Words for 2010- Don't Refudiate This

According to Oxford Press and my friend Debbie Collins, a public librarian in Bethesda, Maryland, (pse), Refudiate is the most popular new word in the English language for 2010. The word was first used by Sarah Palin (we believe!) in one of her debates with Joe Biden (liberal bias: we think the current veep kicked ass!).

We also heard on NPR, that vuvuzela was a popular word of the moment. The term refers to those annoying/amusing horns that were popular at the World Cup in South Africa. Other popular terms include 'spillcam,' in reference to footage of the British Petroleum gulf leak and 'guidos' and 'guidettes,' which refers to 'guys' and 'gals,' which came from the annoying/amusing MTV show "Jersey Shore."

While researching this piece, we found that the liberal magazine "The Nation" has recently published two articles on Sarah Palin, including one called 'Sarah Palin's America' by Betsy Reed about her new reality tv show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" which airs on TLC, and a feature by Gary Younge on The Tea Party.

On the other side of the fence, we read in the web edition of "The American Rifleman" (we are NOT subscribers) about the most popular guns used in movies over the years. Mark A. Keefe IV, editor of that publication, recently wrote a review of C.J. Chivers's book "The Gun," about the Ak-47. A similar article about that same book is in the current edition of "Esquire."

We also noticed that these were the popular trending topics among right-wing gun people (we didn't use the word whackos, but of course, most people with my political views see them that way) include 'Armed Citizen,' 'I Have This Old Gun' and 'Ruger LCR.'

As for the popular words of 2010, we don't expect readers of "The American Rifleman" to be using the term 'Obamamania!' Here is an arbitrary list of those popular words:

1. Refudiate

2. vuvuzela

3. grass-roots

4. spillcam

5. Chilean Coal Miners

6. Lady Gaga

7. guidos/guidettes

8. ObamaMania

9. GTL (gym, tan, laundry)

10. 3-D

The Post-Election Day Hangover

Perhaps the problems I had with the mushroom cloud entry (see previous entry) signaled that it would be a very bleak day for those of us who have the distinction of being liberal Democrats who reside in very staunch conservative Bible Belt jurisdictions_ in the South no less!

As Fred Barnes of the conservative "The Weekly Standard" gloated today: "The GOP practically drove Dems out of The South."

Though Barnes did not mention that Democrats actually retained a 7-6 majority in the U.S. Congress in North Carolina, the state I reside in. Only one incumbent, Republican or Democrat, was ousted in the Tarheel State as Cong. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) fell to Renee Elmers. But, WRAL-TV in Raleigh reported that the Etheridge camp is asking a recount as the incumbent lost by a mere 1,600 votes.

Liberals nationwide are very concerned about the race as "The Nation" (which is generally to the left of my views, and folks in places like Murphy, NC, might think I'm a socialist, but they are pretty extreme themselves!) said the Republican takeover could spell political doom in the areas of health care and abortion.

Lindsay Beyerstein of "The Nation" said that Rand Paul, the Senate-elect from Kentucky, even opposes abortions when a woman's life is in danger. Beyerstein added that Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio, who won U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania and Florida respectively are also radical pro-life politicians.

Meanwhile, "The Seattle Times" has said as of 6:06 p.m. eastern time that the Senate race in Washington state between incumbent Sen. Patty Murray and GOP challenger Dino Rossi was too close to call with Murray holding an extremely slim lead.

I will devote commentary on the two of the key races in my home state of Virginia, in which Republican Morgan Griffith of Salem (who is ironically a friend!), the house leader for the GOP in the state general assembly in Richmond upset long-time incumbent Cong. Rick Boucher.

Boucher was first elected to Congress in 1982, and he was upset by Griffith even though the Roanoke Valley Republican lives outside the ninth district, which stretches to the state's far-western borders. Boucher was considered a centrist Democrat who was even endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

The other key race of personal importance was first-term incumbent Cong. Tom Perriello's (whom I also personally know) well-fought battle against conservative Republican Robert Hurt, a state senator from Chatham (some 50 miles north of Danville), who was well-funded by both state and national GOP operatives. Though Perriello closed considerable ground in the late stages of the race, Hurt prevailed.

Regardless of which way you swing politically, it looks like it will be an interesting two years in the American political spectrum.

PSA- Love Thy Neighbor

Today, we choose a timely PSA as the highly controversial new anti-immigration measures take place in Arizona. Like many on the center-left, I am opposed to the new laws on the grounds that they are both unconstitutional and will lead to needless racial profiling of all Hispanics, even those who are legal citizens.

I do differ with those who are more progressive than me that everyone who supports the measure is racist. While there are certainly eggheads who hold out signs like "Go Back to Mexico," I know there are rational folks who are legitimately concerned about illegal immigration. But, in my view, this proposed 'resolution' will only cause more problems.

The issue has been the focus of journals from the right (The National Review) and the left (The Nation) as well as nonpartisan publications like The Hill as well as international media outlets, such as the BBC and perhaps even the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television). Turkey, which is my late father's country, has had immigration issues of their own mainly over spillover from political crisises in Iraq and Iran.


SIDEBAR: My friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, tweeted yesterday that Friday will be "Speak like Arnold Day" as in speak like the California governor/ "Terminator" franchise star. I guess on that note, we'll have to leave you today with: "I'll be baaack."

PSA-Stop Racism

For today's PSA entry, we go with a slogan repeated throughout the recent World Cup in South Africa: Stop Racism.

There is a brilliant column in the current issue of the progressive American magazine "The Nation," (not to be confused with the right-wing Pakistani publication of the same name) which states that one of the reasons why the American right, particularly the likes of Glenn Beck, can't stand soccer is that is the one true world game.

There also appears to be an international Stop Racism Day on March 21 of each year.

As for this image, we are using it because Kermit the Frog's children's song "It's Not Easy Being Green" dealt with racism. We found out while researching this piece that the world's most famous Muppet reptile made his debut way back in 1955 (?!) for a children's tv show in San Francisco.

SIDEBAR: Some of the interesting things we learned on Twitter today include the following: 1) There is actually a Twitter group telling Muslim residents of Bursa, Turkey, when prayer time is, 2) Domestically, The Goat Show gets underway at the Reno County Fair in South Hutchinson, Kan., tonight. The regular Kansas State Fair will be from Sept. 10-19, 3) A very, very depressed man apparently jumped 20 stories out of an office window to his death in Hartford, Conn., this week. And, I thought I had a rough week!

Rage Against the Machine in Reverse?!

When the disbanded far-left rock group Rage Against the Machine held protests outside the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis back in 2008, many of us in the center-left/moderate Democratic side of the political aisle, were horrified when those attending the band's protest/concert started turning over cars.

We were concerned that these radicals would cause us the same political problems that the hippie movement of the late 1960s (which occured shortly before I was born) created which all but assured the reelection of Richard Nixon in 1968.

But, that horror has subsided as it is now far right-wing extremists which are causing political qualms for the Republican Party. Centrist conservative commentator David Brooks told NPR last week that such actions could potentially doom the party's hopes of capturing seats in both houses of Congress.

This new radical raight-wing populism has a name; it's the Tea Party, which '80s action movie star Chuck Norris hailed as 'the true voice of the American people' in a recent column. But, one has to wonder if the American people are completely in sync with the Tea Partiers such as the one pictured above (who is holding a swashtika under his ObamaCare banner).

And, the group members have taken very extreme actions in both Washington, DC, and in the heartland of America. According to thinkprogress.org, the glass front door of Cong. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-Ariz.) was completely smashed out.

Similarly, a brick was thrown through the window of Cong. Louise Slaughter's (D-NY) office in Niagara Falls, NY. And, someone spray-painted the word "DORKS" in red on the front window of the Knox County Democratic headquarters in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Closer to home, Lynchburg (Va.) Tea Party member Mike Troxel posted the home address of Bo Perriello, a Charlottesville-area resident who is the brother of Cong. Tom Perriello (D-Va) who was one of the last Democratic Congress members to vote yes for health care reform.

According to "The Roanoke Times," a threatening note was sent to Bo Perriello's home and a gas line from a propane tank was cut to his house.

Today, on its web site, The Lynchburg Tea Party hardly seems to be expressing any remorse for this incident as its lead posting states "Perriello Go Home." The LTP goes on to state that Perriello, who defeated the far-right Virgil Goode (ironically a former Democrat) in a huge 2008 political upset, should be voted out because of his votes on "ObamaCare, Cap and Trade and the other items on the Pellosi, Reid/Obama agenda that have destroyed the hopes of future generations to live in a nation that resembles the one envisioned by the founders."

(In its statement, the LTP did not spell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) name correctly.)

But, a larger questions that looms over this radical movement is if there are Republican Party operatives supporting their cause, and the answer to that seems to be a very apparent 'yes.'

On their web site, The Roanoke (Va) Tea Party stated they were either sponsoring or co-sponsoring debates and forums involving potential opponents for both Perriello and Cong. Rick Boucher (D-Va), who actually voted against the controversial health care bill.

The RTP is also encouraging letter-writing campaigns to Virginia's recently elected Republican state officials, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, both of whom are evangelicals who have shown far-right leanings, especially in the areas of civil rights, abortion rights, education and health care, early into their tenure.

Nationwide, the trend seems to be on the same fringe Yosemite Sam stratosphere as the Minnesota Tea Party, based in St. Paul, said on its Twitter page that: "America is on YOU to save the Republic; please inconveience yourself so as to save the Republic."

The Jersey Tea Party, based in NJ, took threatening aims at Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who ironically when he was a Republican senator greatly assisted the nomination process of the current far-right Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on their Twitter page:

"Arlen Spectre swithced parties. Soon, I promise you, he's gonna be switching addresses."

This lunacy has lead the liberal journal "The Nation" to write its lead story this week on the Tea Party, which it is calling 'The Mad Tea Party' in reference to "Alice in Wonderland."

Richard Kim of "The Nation" quipped:

"Leftists like to say another world is possible, but I was never quite sure of that until I started reading tea party websites."

Michelle Cottle of the more centrist "The New Republic" said Sarah Palin, whom 72 percent of Tea Partiers approve of, should go ahead and start her own far-right third party. But, as Cottle added, the former Alaska governor would have a lot of work in 'unionizing' these dittoheads:

"Pretty much everyone gets that Tea Partiers are mad as hell, it's just increasingly hard to tell about what."

Perriello's seat is one that Palin has targeted as one of the 20 Congressional districts which her ticket won in 2008 that are held by Democrats. Former Democratic presidential candidate Wes Clark said that it was important for party activists to counter these Glenn Beck followers by contributing to the funds of those representatives Palin is aiming at.

As a Turkish-American, I am concerned that the Tea Party movement might be the early stages of a very radical evangelical movement which aims to unite church and state. And, in this sense there are direct parallels with their Muslim counterparts.

Islamic fundamentalists took similar measures in Turkey in 1993 when they allegedly murdered secular journalist Ugur Mumcu by placing a bomb in his car. Muslim extresmists also set fire to a hotel in the eastern city of Sivas where an intellectual forum was being held. The gathering, which included key note speaker Aziz Nesin, (1915-1995) Turkish writer and political activisit who escaped the fire, killed 37 people and is today known as "The Sivas Massacre." Nesin had translated Salman Rushdie's controversial novel "The Satanic Verses."

Health Care Voices-The Pundits

Dr. Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, is the most famous Turkish-American around (hopefully, one day, I will crack the top 100).

To my knowledge,like many doctors, he has not said much about the health care spat, but the same can not be said for pundits both on the right and the left.

On the far, far right, Glenn Beck, compared President Barack Obama's plan to cup-stacking, presumably suggesting that all the cups would fall down and create a mess.

Frank Livingston, a Garner, NC, resident told "The Indy Weekly" (a Raleigh,NC, alt weekly) during a Tea Party/anti-health care protest in the Tarheel State capital that the bill would somehow help Osama bin Laden take over America and convert everyone to Muslims.

The much more intelligent center-right has been cynical as well. In a June 2009 column, George F. Will said: "The president may have been too clever when he decided during an economic crisis that was sending federal expenditures soaring and revenues plummeting, to push the entire liberal agenda on the premise that every item in it is essential to combating the crisis," Will stated, adding that more federal government will escalate the problem.

Jonathan V. Last of the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard" said Obama's positive numbers were inflated because of his popularity among African-Americans.

But, a counter argument could be made that former President George W. Bush's numbers would have been even closer to the South Pole if it was not for his evangelical base whom comedian Bill Maher said would have supported Bush if he had run over child actress Dakota Fanning on the White House lawn.

However, if the right was critical, the left, which has not always supported Obama universally, called the health care bill's delivery a defining moment for the president.

Jonathan Chait of the center-left "The New Repubic" said: "Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical importance."

Lindsay Beyerstein of the more progressive journal "The Nation" said: "This legislation will extend coverage to 32 million Americans and curb the wrost abuses of the corrupt insurance industry and attmept to contain spiraling health care costs."

The measure also got anlaysis from outside the United States as indicated by this sentiment expressed by Konrad Yakabushi of "The Toronto Globe and Mail:"

"Passage of the $940 billion overhaul of the U.S. health-care system is a milestone that will change the face and character of the country."

Yaaaay! The Olympics are Finally Over!

It's not that we didn't enjoy them. The Vancouver Winter Olympics were certainly memorable for many reasons, including South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na's exeptional performance which garnered her a well-deserved gold medal.

But, an 18-day event is sort of like a performance of Richard Wagner's long opera "Gotterdammerung/Twilight of the Gods." You were glad to watch it, but you are also certainly most pleased that you can now watch the original 1925 version of "Ben Hur," which you have no idea why you put on your NetFlix que to begin with! (In my case,the long film is actually a three-hour 1969 Chinese epic called "A Touch of Zen.")

Of course, it should be pointed that we are featuring Dudley Do-Right here to poke a little fun of 'our friends up north'- not that we are biter over losing to Canada by a 3-2 count in yesterday's hockey game. Of course, if we had won Glenn Beck would have been ranting about 'American superiority' for weeks on end...!


The good thing about not having a blog that gets over 1,000 hits per day like my friend Chris Knight's blog (http://theknightshift.blogspot.com) is that I am not getting emails from Swedes, Danes and Finns who are perhaps rightfully ticked with me for snubbing their athletes in my recent series on 25 Olympic athletes.

I did profile the great Norwegian skier Alex Lund Svindal, but I otherwise completely snubbed Scandinavaian countries, which won a total of 39 medals (Denmark and Iceland failed to medal). However, I also featured three athletes from African nations none of whom medalled though The Snow Leopard finished in the top 50!

So, I will make a random list of ten Scandanavian athletes we could have profiled. Oh, I should mention we mostly snubbed Eastern European countries too, but we only have so much time to make amends:

1. Emil Jonsson-cross country skiing-Sweden
2. Iris Gudmundsdottir-slalom skiing-Iceland
3. Laura Lepisto- figure skating- Finland
4. Angelina Jensen-women's curling- Denmark
5. Petter L. Tande- nordic skiing- Norway
6. Anna Holmund- free style skiing-Sweden
7. Henrick Lundquist- men's hockey-Sweden
8. Mikka Kiprusoff- men's hockey- Finland
9. Anja Paerson- slalom skiing- Sweden
10. Janne Ahone- ski-jumping- Finland

We believe at least two of these athletes, Tande and Ahone actually medalled as did the Finnish men's hockey team (the Swedes won bronze in women's hockey as well).

The American Olympic delegation actually won some surprising medals, including nordic skiers Billy Demong (gold) and Johnny Spillane (silver).

We also got a gold medal in four-man bobsled,which during the time of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid,would have been virtually unthinkable. The "Night Train" team consisted of Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz.

Later in the month, we hope to update some of the 25 athletes we profiled in an entry entitled "The Olympic Hangover." But, for right now, we are going to resume regular programming, but at least here you won't have to watch Jay Leno interviewing Sarah Palin, who will speaking for $300 in Charlotte, NC, later this spring (we are not making this up!).

SIDEBAR: Speaking of snubs, it appears that the local Greensboro, NC, newspaper "The News and Record" did not publish a letter I wrote which was critical of The Rev. Pat Robertson's heinous comments regarding the devastation in Haiti.

I realize that it is possible the letter got lost in cyberspace or there were similar letters about the matter or that they had limited space.

Nevertheless, the same newspaper did publish a fringe, right-wing letter by Tony Maschetti of High Point, NC, today which actually said that Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama should make arrangements to have terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.

This does make me think of liberal columnist Eric Alterman, also a professor at Brooklyn College, who entitles his pieces in "The Nation" under the name "What Liberal Media?"

I consider myself much more to the political center than "The Nation" (though I prefer them over "The National Review") and I realize that "The News and Record" may not have published my letter for other reasons. But, irregardless I fully sympathize with Alterman's motto. And, I have to wonder if I were to write a letter to an arbitrary local newspaper about how we should nuke Canada to avenge our losses to them in both men's and women's hockey if it would in fact get published the next day.

Not that I'm going to try............