Presidential Quotes: Martin van Buren

Greetings to our blog readers in Ukraine, Greece and Kenya, where assuredly Martin van Buren, America's eighth president, is a household name (yes, that is a joke).

Here is a quote from him which even in a post-Soviet Union world seems very, very ironic, perhaps Russian leader Vladamir Putin, if he somehow reads this blog, might find this interesting:

"Between Russia and the United States sentiments of good will continue to be mutually cherished."

SIDEBAR: One of our favorite tweets of the night is from comic book writer Chris Eliopoulos:

"For those who don't watch CSI Miami, the theme song is The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Things We Learned On Twitter This PM- Softball Team Apparently Isn't 'Gay Enough'

According to the "Seattle Weekly" Twitter page, a gay softball team from San Francisco that competed in the 2008 Gay Softball World Series in Seattle is being disqualified from their second place finish because the team had some straight players.

As a result, three heterosexual players on the men's softball team are suing for $75,000 in damages.

The Seattle alt weekly reported that play was actually stopped during the game and the alleged straight players were interogated about their sexual orientation. The group sponsoring the tournament made the ruling just this week about the matter.

You would think this sort of thing--well in reverse-- would only happen in the Turkish army (forgive the ethnic joke, but since I am a Turkish-American, I can make fun of Turkey which along with The United States is the only western country which bans gays in the military).

The 2010 Gay Softball World Series will take place later this year in Columbus, Ohio. I suppose since I am heterosexual, I won't be able to participate but then again I was never particularly good at softball anyway. And, I seriously doubt that Mount Airy, NC, will send a delegation there even though I bet some of these good ole boys around here are both in the closet and can hit that ball well over the fence!

SIDEBAR:

Speaking of sports, it was a very bad day for my alma maters yesterday. Channel 7 in Roanoke, Va., reported that the Virginia Tech Hokies beat our beloved Radford University Highlanders 15-5 in a men's baseball game that was played at RU.

Similarly, the Glenvar High School boys' soccer team from Salem, Va.,(we actually played with girls when I was on the team in 1988, and they got more playing time than I did though I think that was in part because the coach who acted like Idi Amin didn't care for me) lost to George Wythe High School from Wytheville, Va., by a 5-1 margin. It's too bad the Cold War is over, or else I'd ask Vladamir Putin to drop an A-bomb on Wytheville for revenge........well, hmmmmm.......I suppose that would affect the whole area where I grew up, which is only 70 miles away! (Of course, if it's not obvious, we are just kidding. Love Wytheville. Great truck-stop town!).