High Schools of the Week- Ragsdale HS to Clairemont HS

Greetings to our blog readers in Estonia, Costa Rica and South Africa. Assuredly, many of you might be unfamiliar with American high schools....we hope this helps (well, at least, somewhat!).

Here are our six 'High Schools of the Week,' let's start with Ragsdale High School in the Greensboro-suburb of Jamestown, NC..........this is not the place the settlers landed, that would be Jamestown, Va:

1) Ragsdale High School (pictured top): Nickname: Tigers.  Jamestown, NC. Principal: Dr. Kathryn M. Rogers. Notable alumni: Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC). The school is also well-known for its marching band.

2) Bluefield High School. Bluefield, W.Va (there is also a Bluefield, Va., on the other side of the border). Nickname: Beavers. Principal: Michael Collins. Colors: Black and White. Enrollment: 650 students Main Rival: Graham High School.

3) Conway High School. Conway, SC. Nickname: Tigers. Principal: Steven Fitch. Colors: Green and Gold. Enrollment: 1,577.

4) Floyd County High School (pictured center). Floyd, Va. Nickname: Buffaloes. Principal: Tony Deibler.

5) Science Hill High School. Johnson City, Tenn. Nickname: Hilltoppers. Principal: Melanie Riden-Bacon. Notable alumni: Matt Czuchry (tv's "Gilmore Girls").

6) Clairemont High School (pictured bottom; the school was the inspiration for the 1982 film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High;" the late actor Ray Walston played Mister Hand): San Diego, Calif. Nickname: The Chieftains. School newspaper: "The Arrow"

SIDEBAR: If anyone is interested or cares, there are 170 calories in a pack of Milk Duds!

http://ragsdalehighband.blogspot.com/

http://www.visitfloyd.org/

http://www.chsarrow.com/

https://www.alumniclass.com/conway/

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes or Less: Our Favorite High School Films That are NOT from the John Hughes Era

Since today is Throwback Thursday, and greetings to our blog-readers in Switzerland, Colombia and Nepal, we thought we'd post six of our favorites which were not released in the 1980s.

In 1988, I myself graduated as valedictorian* from Ragsdale High School, in Jamestown, NC,** a suburb of Greensboro, NC.

Here is our list, in order of release year as opposed to preference (James Dean and Natalie Wood are pictured above from the film "Rebel Without a Cause").........ahh, we forgot about the late-70s gems "The Wanderers" and "Over the Edge"......oh well!:

"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955)

"American Graffiti" (1973)

"Cooley High" (1975)

"Carrie" (1977)

"Dazed and Confused" (1993)

"Election" (1999)

*-This is a bold-face lie, I was not valedictorian

**-I did not go to Ragsdale High School, but we hear it's a swell place

http://ragsdalehighband.blogspot.com/

Blogging in 3.5 minutes of Less_ The Six Largest 'Cities' in Wyoming

Greetings to our blog readers in Mexico, New Zealand and Peru.

We wrote 'Cities' as opposed to Cities in the header because most 'cities' in Wyoming have a low population unlike major cities.

We found out today that the state flower of Wyoming is the Castilleja Linuriifolia (hurray, it looks like we spelled it right; cartoonist Keith Knight calls these things 'life's little victories).

This flower will be in view at the upcoming Crested Butte Wildflwoer Festival in Crested Butte, Colo., from July 8-14th.
 
Here are the six largest 'cities' in Wyoming, a state where it is very difficult for Democrats to win elections; it is after all the home state of Dick Cheney (biting my tongue):

1. Cheyenne (the capital) 59,446

2. Casper 55, 316

3. Laramie 30,816

4. Gillette 29, 087

5. Rock Springs 23, 036

6. Sheridan 17,444

SIDEBAR: Since we are, for some reason, popular in El Salvador, I wanted to congratulate their under-21 national soccer team for stunning Australia 1-0 in Trabzon, Turkey, yesterday, where the U-21 World Cup match was played.

http://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com

http://www.wyomingtourism.org

http://www.colorado.com

http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com

http://www.knightlifecomic.com

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes (or less)........The Six Largest Cities in Brazil

Hmmm.........this iconic statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro (called Christ the Redeemer), Brazil, might fool the Rev. Pat Robertson into thinking this is a conservative, evangelical blog when in all actuality, we are about as biased as the great Eric Alterman at "The Nation."

Greetings to all our blog readers in El Salvador, Finland and South Korea.

Here are the six largest cities in Brazil:

1. Sao Paulo 11.23 million

2. Rio de Janeiro 6.33 million

3. Salvador 2.7 million

4. Brasilia (the capital) 2.563 million

5. Fortaleza 2.5 million

6. Belo Horizonte 2.4 million


http://www.cbn.com/700club/

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.ericalterman.com

http://www.visitbrasil.com

Blogging in Three and a Half Minutes (or less).....Those Silly Board Games

We were initially going to go with Colonel Mustard, a character from the board game "Clue," which was actually made into a film! Of course, it wasn't that good. But, instead we are going with an image of Sherlock Holmes.

Our question today is which one of these board games was our favorite game during our youth.

And, greeting today to our blog readers in South Africa, Israel, Dubai, Malaysia and France.

Is the answer:

A)  Clue

B) Trivial Pursuit

C) Scrabble

D) Operation

E) Monopoly

Six Degrees of Separation: The Guys from Freaks and Geeks

It only lasted for 18 episodes as compared to "Beverly Hills 90210," the longest running tv show about high school in broadcasting history which ran from 1990-2000 (?!) and lasted 292 episodes.

But, it seems like "Freaks and Geeks," a dramedy about high school outcasts, has now surpassed the show about popular kids, in terms of pop culture popularity. The show, which came on the air in 1999, is frequently aired on IFC.

Amazingly enough, three of the show's male leads, James Franco (pictured top), Seth Rogen and Jason Segel have become A-list actors. None of them have actually been in a movie with Kevin Bacon that distinction does belong to the show's female star Linda Cardellini  was in the film "Super" (2010), a superhero parody with Bacon.

Franco is two degrees removed from Bacon as he starred in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) which also featured Sanjo Bennett who was in the Atom Egoyan-directed film "Where the Truth Lies" (2005) with Bacon.

John Francis Daley, who was played Sam, the youngest main character on the show, was in "View from the Top" (2008) with Mark Ruffalo who was in the steamy film "In the Cut" (2008) where Meg Ryan bared all; that films also featured Bacon.

Joe Flaherty (pictured bottom), who is now surprisingly 72 years old, was a star on the Canadian skit show "SCTV" in the 1980s, played Sam's father on "Freaks and Geeks." He was in Nothing Personal (1980) with Maury Chaykin who was also in "Where the Truth Lies."

Lastly, Rogen was in "You, Me and Dupree" (2006) with Matt Dillon who was in "Loverboy" (2005) with Bacon.


SIDEBAR: We were shocked and saddened to hear that Joe Bankhead (1941-2007), a Salt Lake City, artist, writer and chess enthusiast died only a few months after we met him at the Coffee Garden by the Tower Theater on 9th Street. Tragically, Bankhead died while he was blogging as his trailer , unbeknownst to him, was leaking carbon monoxide. Bankhead was the subject of a blog entry here way back on May 30, 2007.

http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2007/05/salt-lake-city-discoveryjoe-bankhead.html

http://www.ifc.com

http://www.oracleofbacon.org

http://www.bacontoday.com

http://www.ilovebacon.com

And, Now a Word from Our Spnsor- Malev Hungarian Airlines

We were actually initially going to with Bulgarian Airlines, but then we said to ourselves: "Hey, ya know_ Hungary is a larger country than Bulgaria. You'll get more hits if you mention Malev Hungarian Airlines."

Our apologies to all our blog readers in Sofia and Varna (those of Bulgaria's two largest cities, we think!).

http://www.malev.hu

http://www.air.bg/en

The Return of Friday Night Tweets: Bad Night to Deliver Pizzas in Raleigh, NC

The three images above are of: 1) Soap actress Nadia Bjorlin of "Days of Our Lives" fame (she is apparently not on the show right now, but she has come back twice); 2) Police officers in Troy, Montana, and 3) Local televangelists from Reidsville, NC, we are actually using their image to go with a tweet about Kansas. We do have to thank friend and fellow blogger Chris Knight as he used the image of the Men in Grey on his blog initially. We believe this two tv preachers are associated with the very radical Rev. Johnny Robertson from Martinsville, Va.

Let's go:

1) Nadia Bjorlin @RealNadiaB: "Happy Friday! First day off summer and I'm off to Vegas!"

2) Raleigh News @RaleighNews: "Two pizza delivery drivers robbed minutes apart in Raleigh."

3) The Denver Post @Denverpost: "Ironman triathlon coming to Boulder in August 2014."

4) Wall Street Journal @WSJ: "Montana is the first state to require police get a warrant before tracking a suspect through a cell phone."

5) The Seattle Times @seattletimes: "Got big plans this weekend? Beware of traffic impact
from Saturday's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon"

6) Rolling Stone @rollingstone: "Gun nuts, anti-abortion zealots and free-market cultists are leading Kansas toward disaster."

7) ABC 11 WTVD in Raleigh, NC @ABC11-WTVD: "Report: 2 cannons raised from Blackbeard's ship."

http://www.nadia-bjorlin.com

http://www.visitmt.com

http://www.visittopeka.us

http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com

Now Showing: Movies at American Movie Theatres (West Coast Edition)

AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first try at posting this entry was accidentally deleted, so those of you in Paris, Istanbul and Dubai should tell all your friends to check out this blog.

Here are a look at movies showing in West Coast cinemas this weekend.

Let's start in St. Louis, even though it's pretty far from the west coast, where one can see the outstanding Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy film "Before Midnight" at the Tivoli (a Landmark theatre) at noon; 2:30; 4:45; 7:15 and 9:45 p.m.

In the Mile-High City, one can see a documentary called "Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie" about the late right-wing tv host (pictured bottom) at the Denver Film Society Colfax at 7:20 and 9:30 p.m.

The Salt Lake Film Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, is screening another documentary "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks" which profiles the far-left founder of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (pictured top) at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m.

At Cinema 21 in Portland, Ore., one can see the latest film from director Joss Whedon ("The Cabin in the Woods") called "Much Ado About Nothing," yeah, we're not sure how much it has to do with William Shakespeare either!

In San Francisco, one can see perhaps one of the most unique documentaries playing anywhere as the Roxie Theatre screens "I Am Gay and Muslim" as part of the cinema's gay-lesbian film festival with shows at 7:00 p.m. The Dutch film from director Chris Bellami, which lasts 59 minutes, profiles gay men in Morocco.

Lastly, in L.A., one can see another documentary "20 Feet From Stardom" at the Landmark.

For listings of showings at east coast arthouses (and, this is where we effed up before) go to our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" at http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

http://www.denverfilm.org

http://www.saltlakefilmsociety.org

http://www.landmarktheatres.com

http://www.roxie.com

http://www.cinema21.com

Times Around the World : If It's Midnight in New York...........

We are using images of people associated with their given countries for this particular entry which compares times around the world when it is midnight in New York, which is plus-five Greenwich Mean Time.

From top, we have the late French mime Marcel Marceau, though I suppose we could have used Jerry Lewis (the American actor is very popular in France) or Asterix the Gaul as well, former Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel, who is still alive at age 88, and Mexican actress Selma Hayek, best known for playing artist Frida Kahlo.

Here we go:

Europe

London 5:00 a.m.
Paris 6:00 a.m.
Helsinki, Finland 7:00 a.m.

Middle East region

Istanbul 7:00 a.m.
Haifa, Israel 7:00 a.m.
Dubai 8:00 a.m.

Asia and Australia

Hong Kong 12 p.m. (noon)
Singapore 12:00 p.m.
Sydney 2:00 p.m.

Mexico and Central America

Mexico City 11:00 p.m.
Antiqua, Guatemala 12:00 a.m. (midnight)
San Jose, Costa Rica 10:00 p.m.

Free From Blog Entry: All That Jazz

This is new idea we have come up with, if it doesn't work, we'll blame Javier the Intern. We take six phrases and try to make a flash fiction piece with it.

The phrases are pregnant women, jazz (Dizzy Gillespie, picture top), cuckoo clocks, cold pizza, Angry Birds, Air Canada

Here we go:

"Little Marvin was playing Angry Birds on his hand-held device while waiting for the Air Canada flight from Toronto to Montreal when his father told him that he should eat the rest of his personal pan pizza from an airport Pizzaa Hut kiosk as it would surely go cold. Marvin ignored his father, which was in his DNA.

Marvin's father decided not to argue with him and listen to jazz on his I-Pod. He had tried to educate this son about jazz: Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Kenny G, ok, the later was a mistake. Marvin's father then noticed a pregnant young woman without a boyfriend, fiance or husband. She was actually reading a book. Even though it was a fluffy romance novel, Marvin's father was impressed.

Suddenly, the cuckoo clock in Marvin's father's head went off. There were now only 20 minutes until the flight was scheduled to depart. But, there appeared to be a long delay. Marvin's father then noticed a dark-skinned woman, perhaps from Syria or Egypt, wearing a hijab, now sitting beside the pregnant woman. Marvin's father's mind then drifted towards impure thoughts, and then he heard it was time to board the flight. He gently tapped Marvin's shoulders, but, of course, his son was going to play Angry Birds until the proverbial last minute possible."

http://www.aircanada.com

http://www.kennyg.com

Turkey: The Land of the Hijab and the Bikini

Alas, as a Turkish-American, I fear that tourists will opt to gaze upon the bodies of attractive young women in bikinis in the Greek island of Kos as opposed to the Turkish resort of Bodrum which is a mere three miles away from Kos, due to riots and unrest in Istanbul and other Turkish cities, including Ankara and Izmir.

Turkey is a land caught between the Hijab and the Bikini, and Islamist conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose regime is at the center of the chaos, has manipulated his conservative base in central Anatolian cities, like Yozgat, Konya and Sivas, to counter the protests even as it is likely to further divide the country and cost Turkey millions of lost revenue in the tourism sector.

The BBC is reporting that a lone standing man who stood alone in silence in Taksim Square earlier in the day in Istanbul has become a symbol for the Turkish people in their collective stand against an oppressive government. He has been identified as 'The Standing Man of Istanbul."

With that in mind, we are looking at what exactly the definitions of the hijab and the bikini are, as well as the ever intriguing burqini fashion trend in the Muslim world, which we suspect might be popular along the beaches of Dubai and Algeria:

Hijab: A veil which covers the head which is particularly worn by a Muslim female beyond puberty in the presence of non-related adult males.

Bikini: This is a type of women's two-piece swimsuit designed to provide minimal coverage of the body. One part covers the breasts and the part that covers the groin and part or the entire buttocks.

Burqini: A swimsuit for Muslim women designed by Lebanese Australian Ahena Zametti. The suit covers the whole body, except the hands, feet and face,

http://www.kosinfo.gr/

http://www.bodrum.org

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" which features the same topic, but different text and images)

Top Five More Countries Turkish PM Erdogan Should Defect To

Wow! The Bulgarian flag (pictured bottom) sure looks funky on this blog, as its white stripe at the time seems invisible.

Bulgaria is one of ten countries, we think disgraced Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should escape to; the other five are listed on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


Here we go:

1) Uzbekistan (pictured top): This former Soviet Republic is Sunni Muslim and has close ties with Turkey and lots of open spaces; it is also supposedly a dictatorship. Erdogan should be at home there.

2) Morocco (pictured middle): Unlike other Erdogan critics, I think the prime minister's traveling to Morocco at the height of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul wasn't a mistake. His faux pas was returning from there!

3) Bulgaria: Why not?!

4) Sudan: Lots of desert, and the dictator of Sudan has a solid partnership with the current Turkish government. In normal times, this was an outrage and embarrassment to those of us of Turkish heritage. But, now if Sudan takes Erdogan, all of us will jump for joy like children at the zoo in Gulhane Park in Istanbul. Oh! I forgot. Erdogan had that demolished.

5) Tunisia: The second country Erdogan visited on his north African tour. Perhaps, he stayed at a hotel in Tunis that he can imagine spending 30 years in.

Word of the Day: Megalomania

Though we are going with an image of the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, the man we had in mind for this entry is Turkey's notorious prime minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A few years ago while visiting Bursa, Turkey, I saw a sticker with a toilet plunger which said: "AK Parti'yi Istemiyoruz/We don't want the AK-Party." And, given that Erdogan is from the ruling AK-Party, which couldn't agree more.

We suspect that our blogs might be blocked in Turkey as we have been very critical of the Turkish government, but hopefully, this can perhaps reach someone in neighboring Bulgaria.

Here is today's word of the day:

'Megalomania" (from Wikipedia): " This is a psychopathological disorder characterized by delusional fantasiesof power, relevance, and omnipotence.

Things We Learned on Google Today: Air Canada Was Founded in 1937

Well, this small photo of Air Canada was easier to post than significantly larger ones of planes from the airline, which is the world's tenth largest airline.

Air Canada serves 178 destinations and the airline has 27,000 employees.

The hubs for Air Canada are: Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

This blog has always received many hits from Canada, and we are grateful for that. Hopefully, the weather in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is awesome today!

http://www.aircanada.com

Our Ten Favorite Comic Strips of the Week: Cubicle Dwellers, Aliens and Rural Kentuckians

Though it has never been mentioned in the comic strip, we suspect that "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith," one of the oldest running American comic strips in existence, takes place in a remote, rural place like Harlan, Kentucky, where one will likely find revival preachers.

It makes this initial entry on our ten favorite comic strips from the Sunday pages, along with "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" in which 'our hero' must be fight to save planet Earth from an alien insectoid invasion, and "Dilbert" in which a bald-headed executive gives workplace strategies to Dilbert.

By the way, there is a UFO Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, of all places, not far from where the Gezi Park protests, against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian prime minister of Turkey. 

Here are the Top Ten, in alphabetical order, as opposed to order of preference:

1) "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith"(John Rose is now the cartoonist of the strip)

2) "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy"

3) ""Dilbert"

4) "Doonesbury" (this one was really awesome!)

5) The Duplex

6) "F-Minus"

7) "Knight Life" (Keith Knight continues his 'Life's Little Victories' series)

8) "Mother Goose and Grimm"

9) "Non Sequitir"

10) "Speed Bump"

http://www.dilbert.com

http://www.doonesbury.com

http://www.knightlifecomic.com

http:///www.ufoevidence.org (not an endorsement)

http://www.harlancountytrails.com

The Last Ten Films We've Seen: City Films

Among the last ten films listed here, there are two with career stand-up comedians/actors: the late Rodney Dangerfield plays a dictatorial cinema manager in "The Last Projection" and the late Richard Pryor has a cameo in "Car Wash."

Other films include the western "Winchester '73" with the late Jimmy Stewart and early film appearances from the late Rock Hudson and the late Tony Curtis (billed as Anthony Curtis), Gene Hackman reprising Popeye Doyle in "French Connection II" and Jean-Luc Godard's "Made in USA," which has only been allowed for public viewing in the USA since 2008 due to a copyright issue.

Here is the list, we got the idea from "Film Comment:"

1. "The Projectionist" 1971. dir-Harry Hurwitz

2. "French Connection II" (pictured top) 1975. dir-John Frankenheimer

3. "Winchester '73" 1950 dir-Anthony Mann #

4. "Made in USA" (France) 1966. dir-Jean-Luc Godard

5. "Car Wash" (pictured center) 1976. dir-Michael Shultz

6. "The Graduate" (pictured bottom) 1967 dir-Mike Nichols #

7. "Happymorethankyouplease" 2010. dir-Josh Radnor

8. "The Avengers" 2012. dir- Joss Whedon

9. "Bridesmaids" 2011. dir. Paul Feig

10. "The Cabin in the Woods" 2011. dir-Drew Goddard

#-Films we had previously watched before

http://www.filmcomment.com

http://www.filmlinc.com

http://www.richardpryor.com

A Random Top Ten List of English-Language Films I've Seen Multiple Times..........(except "The Godfather)

As one might expect, not too many four-hour epics like "Ben Hur," "Giant" and "Titanic" (the only one of these three films I've actually seen makes this list!).... :

1. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971)

2. "Five Easy Pieces" (pictured, 1970)

3. "The French Connection" (1971)

4. "Apocalypse Now" (1979)

5. "The Landlord" (1970, a film I had not seen until last year!)

6. "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)

7. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)

8. "On the Waterfront" (1954)

9. "The Exorcist" (1973)

10. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962)

SIDEBAR: Earlier today, an article I wrote about the political turmoil in Turkey was published on a high volume blog based in Washington, DC:

http://www.dcmiccheck.org/2013/06/06/gezi-park/

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Stars of "9 to 5"

Tonight, we thought we'd go back to the days when we blogged about the degrees of separation given stars were from Kevin Bacon through the web site The Oracle of Bacon, devised by computer scince at the University of Virginia a decade and a half ago.

With that in mind, we focus on the three female leads for "9 to 5" (1980), which was turned into a tv sitcom and a Broadway musical. The film starred Jane Fonda (pictured top), Dolly Parton (pictured bottom) in her film debut and Lily Tomlin.

None of the women have actually been in a film with Bacon, and each of them are two degrees removed from his.

Fonda was in "Stanley and Iris" (1989) with Robert DeNiro and he was in turn in "Sleepers" (1995) with Bacon.

Parton was in "Miss Congeniality 2" which I reluctantly saw at a movie theatre in Guatemala City, Guatemala, with Stephen Tobolowsky who was in  "Murder in the First" (1995) with Bacon.

Tomlin was in the Woody Allen film "Shadows and Fog" (1991) which co-starred Peter McRobbie who was in "Sleepers" with Bacon.

Parton will be performing in Portland, Ore., on June 8th for Dolly Parton Hoot Night (we are not making this up!).

Amazingly enough, Bacon is also only two degrees removed from early film star Lillian Gish and Shirley Temple, who hasn't made films since she was a child star. But, he is a full three degrees from Mary Pickford, a star in the 1920s, and Turkish actress Turkan Soray, who is known as the queen of Turkish cinema.

http://www.oracleofbacon.org

http://www.dollyparton.com

http://www.portlandlive.com

Yes, Prime Minster_ Turkish PM Says Protestors are 'Terrorists'

We were looking for an image of a woman in a red dress, but all we could find were famous celebrities, such as Cindy Crawford. But, the 'woman in red' we are referring to is an unknown Turkish woman wearing a red dress who was sprayed by a water cannon. The image of what was done to her has been the one which has most damned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his grave mishandling of a protest to not develop at the historic Gezi Park in the Taksim part of Istanbul.

We asked Google who the woman was, and all we could find was an article in "The Daily Mail" (UK) explaining how many students in the same vicinity as the woman in red were also targeted by the police.

The protests in Turkey have made headlines around the world: "The Hurriyet Daily News" in Turkey quotes President Abdullah Gul as saying the protests were more like Occupy Wall Street than the even more massive Tahrir Square protests in Egypt (yeah, we aren't buying that either). "The Jerusalem Post," an English-language newspaper in Israel, looked at the nuanced differences between the Turkish and Egyptian protests, one of which is that Erdogan is a democratically-elected leader. And, "Dutch News" reported that people of Turkish heritage in the Netherlands held demonstrations in both Amsterdam and The Hague.

With that, we turn our attention to Erdogan, whom we feel is more or less as coniferous as this great white shark from South Africa pictured, who made the following dubious quote about the protests: "This is a protest organized by extremist elements," he said. "We will not give away anything those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism."

SIDEBAR: Those who might be traveling to Baltimore, Maryland, here in the United States, can partake in glimpses of sandbar sharks and giant Pacific octopuses/octopi; we are not sure if any of the octopi are predicting the outcomes of weekend Major League Soccer games this weekend.

http://www.dutchnews.nl

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.jpost.com

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com

http://www.aqua.org

Quote of the Day- Nazim Hikmet

Today's quote of the day comes from the late Nazim Hikmet, who is Turkey's most famous poet. Though he lived in exile for much of his adult life in the Soviet Union for his communist views, Hikmet is highly regarded in Turkey. His quotes have also inspired many people in Turkey during this trying period brought on my unjust militant crackdowns by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against peaceful protestors at Gezi Park in Istanbul. Hikmet is buried in Moscow, Russia, and his cemetery is a top destination point for Turkish people and poetry enthusiasts.


Here is his quote:

"However and wherever we are, we must live as if we never die."

SIDEBAR: A few months ago, I saw this tweet from John Robinson, the former editor of "The News and Record" in Greensboro, NC, who now teaches at the University of North Carolina. It was regarding 'cannibalism' in Jamestown. At first, I thought he was referring to Jamestown, NC, a suburb of Greensboro, but I realized he meant the Jamestown colony in eastern Virginia.

http://www.nazimhikmet.org

http://www.johnrobinson.com

Tweets on Events in Turkey, 3rd Entry

Here is our third entry on tweets posted within the the last 24 hours about the citizen uprisings throughout Turkey, which was started by environmentalists in the Taksim Square section of Istanbul, and has spread all over Anatolia.

There is one tweet here Ceylan Ozbudak, who is a female reporter for Al Arabiya, which seems like the Fox News off the Middle East as she actually defended the corrupt Turkish Prime Minsiter Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a time of tremendous national unity in opposition to the government in Ankara. The BBC is reporting that police have left the Gezi Park area where the protests originated:

1) ATAA (the main Turkish-American assembly): ATAA CALLS FOR RESTRAINT FROM ALL SIDES DURING PROTEST AND POLICE CLASHES IN ISTANBUL.

2) Emre Kizilkaya: "I saw that the people at #occupygezi are 'ordinary' people young and senior. They're the 99 percent.

3) Ceylan Ozbudak: "Those who think this a protest for democracy know what you are supporting. Communist flags all over Taksim" (she fails to mention that both the the secular right and secular left as well as political centrists are united in opposition to Erdogan).

4) Jose M. Calatayud: "I saw many ATMs damaged. Actually, I have ran out of cash and couldn't anywhere near near the centre."

5) Jeffrey Gibbs:"Yes, yes, but it seems Turkey just passes from one violent hand to another. If Erdogan goes, what comes in his place?" (Though this is a valid point, we differ with the opinion as any government would be better than the current far right Islamist regime)

6) Laetoli: "Access to Facebook in Turkey is blocked right now, we're afraid that Twitter may be blocked soon."

7) Haaretz.com: "Protestors defiant as #Turkey unrest goes into third day; more than 900 arrested ad 1,000 injured so far."

NOTE: The above image if a TRT (Turkey Radio Television) test pattern that was used whenever tv coverage went down during the 1970s and '80s.

http://www.ataa.org

http://www.haaretz.com

More Tweets Regarding Events in Turkey

The BBC is reporting this hour that some 40,000 pedestrians crossed from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side of the city by walking over the Bosporus Bridge.

This above photo is of Istikal Caddesi, the main street in Beyoglu, the cultural hub of Istanbul, which is in close proximity to Taksim where the initial protests against the right-wing government started, but those protests spread into Istikal Caddesi.

The main issue raised by the protestors is that Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking Turkey into Islamic fundamentalism, which is in direct conflict with the foundations of the modern state set by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

These protests also originated as an environmental protest to preserve Gezi Park, the only remaining open space in Istanbul. Ironically, there are reports that both Turkish liberals and Turkish secular nationalists have set aside differences to form a coalition in the protests.

Here are the tweets:

1. BBC News: "Fresh clashes in Ankara and Istanbul. Turkey's two biggest cities between anti-government demonstrations and police."

2. Today's Zaman (an English-language edition of the conservative Turkish newspaper "Zaman"): "Stability guaranteed by upholding freedoms, US says on Gezi Park protests."

3. Najwa Mekki: Was in #Taksim #Turkey last weekend and saw riot police but couldn't figure out why. Now I get it. #OccupyGezi

4. Osman Kaytazoglu: "Police is not stepping back heavy teargas use."

5. A Tzanakopolous (A Greek tweeter; Turkey and Greece have been traditional ethnic rivals, but there is no sense of that here): "Our brothers and sisters in Istanbul brutally attacked for defending their city."

6. Gizzy MagicPants (We have no idea what this person's real name is): "This time yesterday, police attacked sleeping protestor in Taksim Gezi Parki and started a chain reaction."

7. Can Yeginsu: "As the crowds surge into #Taksim, Turkish tv refuses to broadcast the popular unrest, a dark day for the press #taksimgeziparki