Noon Rush Hour Tweets: Does God Decide if Tom Brady Throws Interceptions?

Greetings to our beloved blog readers in Wales, Dubai, and South Korea.....

We imagine folks are quite happy in Tunisia today as the national soccer team defeated Zambia 2-1 in the African Cup of Nations yesterday. Today, in Turkish soccer play, Trabzonspor defeated its fellow eastern Turkish side Sivasspor 3-1, thanks to two goals from Paraguay international Oscar Cardozo.

Our images above are of: 1) The Buffalo Bills, an American football team in Buffalo, NY; 2) The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn.; and 3) Cong. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is the speaker of the house..........yes, we are surprised to be posting a tweet from him as well (this blog has a center-left bias, but then again, so does the truth).........

Here are tweets taken from the noon rush hour on the east coast of America:

1) The Hill (a newspaper that covers Congress): Sen. Lindsey Graham (D-SC) says...........'I'm well-qualified to be president'.....

2) UberFacts: One in four Americans believe that God decides who wins the Super Bowl (that is our reason for using the Bills, they are 0-4 in Super Bowls)

3) Chris Eliopolous (a cartoonist....yeah, we got his name spelled right, we think!): Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between a mentally disturbed man and a guy on his Bluetooth headset.

4) Politico: Bill and Hillary Clinton praise King Abdullah's 'humanitarian efforts.'

5) WNYC (New York's NPR station): "On March 22, the fare of a New York City bus or subway ride will increase by a quarter.........*sigh*....)

6) Speaker John Boehner: This pen is used to sign common sense job bills before sending them to the president's desk (hashtag: National Handwriting Day)

7) Peter Sciretta (tweeting from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah): The Bronze is a filthy R-rated SNL sketch at feature-film length. If that sounds like something fun, go see it. If not, avoid it (hashtag: Sundance)

8) Mike Reiss (Boston-based sports reporter): Darelle Revis of the Pats relayed how Tom Brady addressed players Thursday and talked about not letting deflate football story to be a distraction.

9) Sherine Tadros (Middle East-based tv journalist): Calling the late King Abdullah (of Saudi Arabia) a 'reformer' shows how far low the bar is in the region.

10) WXII 12 News (TV station in Winston-Salem, NC): At 12:40 p.m. (we have) icy mountain spots, glazing on trees, sleet now rain in the Triad, upper 30s.

11) Hartford Courant: Exodus of tens of thousands of residents to other states has lead to Connecticut's first population drop since 2008.

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.desperatetimes.com/ (a comic strip by Chris E.)

http://chriseliopoulos.com/

http://www.wnyc.org/

http://www.politico.com

https://twitter.com/johnboehner (Definitely not an endorsement)

http://www.hartford.com/ (Hartford, Ct, tourism site)

http://www.courant.com/

https://www.marktwainhouse.org/

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)

Tweets of the Day_ Politics, Weather and Halloween Zaniness

Trick or Tweet! We are surprised that our other blog "The Daily Vampire," which turns four years old today, is popular in Israel and Algeria at the moment?!

36 years on this date, I dressed up as Underdog for Halloween back home in Salem, Va.; it should be pointed out that I was six years old in 1976.

Here are today's tweets:

1) @washingtonpost ("The Washington Post"): Skeleton from Colonial times found when #sandy uproots historic tree (the tree is in New Haven, Conn.).

2) @severeplains (Jayson Prentice, a Kansas City meteorologist): "Fact: In the 12 hours before & after landfall, there were nearly 2.7 mentions of #Sandy on Twitter (including retweets)."

3) @NadiaNeopytou (she is a South African journalist living in New York): "Limited subway service in New York to resume on Thursday."

4) @motherjones ("Mother Jones" is a liberal magazine): "Supreme Court Catch 22: Can the government violate your rights as long as it does so in secret?" (Yes, that is the reason why we have an image of Justice Clarence Thomas, the most arch conservative member of the Supreme Court).

5) @davidfrum (David Frum is a center-right pundit who used to be George W. Bush's speech writer): "How much of the white vote will show up on Nov. 6?"

6) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on climate change: I don't think the federal govt. has done enough. A group of people in Wash. right now deny the truth."

7) @capitalweather (Capital Weather Gang, a Washington, DC-based weather outlet): "Due to #sandy, our winter outlook release- scheduled for Nov. 1_ delayed until after the election. Who is disappointed?"

8) @UWGymnastics (University of Washington gymnastics, former Huskies' gymnast Haley Bogart is pictured above): "Happy Halloween! Show us your costumes? Anyone a gymnast for Halloween! Go Dawgs!"

Special Quote of the Week- Albert Camus

Today, we conclude with a spillover entry from the month of May, in which we posted quotes from famous novelists, with a quip from the late French writer Albert Camus
(1913-1950). Like the subject of our other entry on our other blog who was George Orwell (1905-1950), both writers were born abroad and died at age 46. While Orwell was born in India, Camus was born in Algeria. He often wrote about the plight of the north African country which remains an area of concern today given the political upheveal in neighboring Libya. Prior to the Libyan mess, there were earlier uprisings in neighboring Tunisia, which lead to the 'Arab Spring."

In addition to his criticism of colonialism, Camus was an outspoken critic of the death penalty, saying that it would never deter perspective murderers because 'the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in the state of equilibrium.'

Alas, the likes of Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va) and Gov. Rick Perry (R-Tex.) and others on the anti-intelllectual right will assuredly always find a way to dismiss any logic that challenges their self-righteous Christian hypocricy.

McDonnell will be speaking at the Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center in Blackstone, Va. on June 11th, according to Eskii Kebede of "The Collegiate Times," the Virginia Tech student-run newspaper in Blacksburg, Va. The topic will be the faith of the founding fathers. Assuredly, any arguments about how a man who sees himself as an upstanding Christian can support the morally inconsistent pro-death penalty argument will not be brought forth.

Camus, who recieved the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, is known for three novels "The Stranger" (1942), "The Plague" (1947) and "The Fall" (1956).

Surreally enough, the much-heralded Turkish film director Zeki Demirkubuz loosely adapted "The Stranger" into his well-recieved 1999 film "Yazgi" ("Fate). I'm sure Camus would have been proud; here is his quote:

"An intellectual is someone who mind watches itself."

Quote of the Week- Jacques Derrida

This is the first entry in a series of quotes from famous philosophers that will run on Mondays in March. It is perhaps fitting as we posted a blog entry in "The Daily Vampire," which is also by Tilly Gokbudak (who is me, yes I think referring to yourself as if you are someone else is quite obnoxious too!), about names that we had not spelled correctly that we have a quote from Jacques Derrida (1930-2004).

Up until I googled him about a half-hour ago, I wasn't sure if the late French philosopher's name was spelled with one 'd' or two 'd's. Well, it is Derrida!

Speaking of which, we should mention that we butchered Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's name in an entry last week, but like him, we refuse to apologize for any wrong-doings even if they are painfully obvious (unless, you can sue us and then of course, we will send you a dozen roses from FTD).

Derrida, who was the subject of a documentary film with his name in 2002, was born in Algeria as were many French intellectuals and cultural icons, including the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

The French philosopher is known for developing the critical theory known as 'deconstruction' and his work has been associated with post-structuralism and post-modern philosophy.

We also gather that former president George W. Bush has read a lot of Derrida's works and is a great admirer of his (that is a joke, but I think even my Republican friends like Bill Kristol* will find it amusing).

Here is our quote from Derrida:

"I never give in to the temptation of being difficult just for the sake of being difficult. That would be ridiculous."

We must profess that since there is a tuxedo cat named "Gizmo" roaming around here in the office, that we really like this photo, that slightly reminds us of Marlan Brando's pose in "The Godfather."

*-I am not actually friends with the neo-con intellectual Bill Kristol, who founded "The Weekly Standard" which I assume is to the 'far-left' of "Soldier of Fortune" magazine, but he did, much to my shock, personally answer an email (it was actually not political in nature even though I have much different views than Kristol) that I had assumed one of his associates would read. So, I do feel obliged to say nice things about him which might be harder to do if I read his columns, which I presume are rather negative towards President Barack Obama.

Quote of the Day- Yves Saint Laurent

Famed French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008), who was actually born in Algeria, may no longer be with us, but we can still quote him just the same:

"We must NEVER confuse elegance with snobbery."

My World Cup Final Four Picks

Before I reveal my picks here, I want to applaud David Zirin of "The Nation" for rightfully putting "Washington Times" sports reporter Thom Loverro in his place.

On a sports talk show in reference to Team America's win over Algeria in the qualifying round last week (before the U.S. team lost to Ghana in the round of 16), Loverro said the following about Algeria: "When I think of Algeria, all I think about are terrorists and Abbott and Costello movies."

Like Zirin, I am sickened by such comments and they certainly don't reflect the views of all Americans. Similarly, Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic" reported that some demented person hacked the Wikipedia page for Ghana after they defeated Team America 2-1 in extra time on Saturday and used an epithet against the west African country.

There is absolutely no place for this sort of thing in today's world whatsoever.

As for my picks, like Zirin who said he believes Argentina will win The World Cup, I am also picking Argentina to win it all even though I really like Germany (who they place next) especially the star Turkish-German soccer player Mesut Ozil who is just 21 years old.

My other picks are Holland (over Brazil!), Spain and Uruguay.

The Dutch player Wesley Sneijder is pictured above. He has lead Team Holland in scoring so far, including the first goal in The Netherlands' 2-1 win over Slovakia on Monday.

Quote of the Day- Algerian Writer Mohammed Dib

Initially, we were not certain that we could go through with today's quote from the late Algerian writer Mohammed Dib (1920-2003) since Team America was playing the Algerians today in The World Cup. We were afraid that if Algeria won we might look unpatriotic even though we have quoted Che Guevara (on a lark) here on this blog....many times!

But, Team America scored a late-game goal by Landon Donovan to reach the second round with a 1-0 win.

One might expect that relations between The United States and Algeria, the only pre-dominantly Muslim country in the World Cup to be slightly tense these days, but according to an article by Adam John Waterman in the current issue of the progressive journal "The Utne Reader" (originally published in "Bidoun") there is actually a cultural link between Algeria and Iowa!

Waterman said that the town of Elkader, Iowa, founded in 1846 and named after 19th century Algerian revolutionary fighter Abd al-Qadir, is sister cities with Mascara, Algeria. And, the town has a very unique history which many folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines might be unaware of: "By the same token, the name Elkader, with its vague Arabesque exoticism, distinguished the town in a field crowded with biblical allusions, Indian rebels, and wartime heroes."

So, this brings us to today's quote which comes from Dib, who is still considered to be Algeria's most well-known writer, though some may say that distinction belongs to the late French writer Albert Camus who was born in Algeria and spent much of his life there (alas, Camus died at age 46).

This is a point that Dib makes in his quote about Camus, who also happened to be a good friend and a contemporary of his:

"Albert Camus is an Algerian writer, yet we generally think of him as a Frenchman, and as an existentialist, and regard his North African settings as almost beside the point; just backdrops for investigations of life and fate."

As for the World Cup games, there are many places where one can watch them.

In Chapel Hill, NC, there is the Turkish restaurant/bar Talulla's that is showing many of the soccer games. Talulla's might well serve the best manti (a Turkish pasta dish) this side of Istanbul. Their menu also features chicken pide, falafel and the eggplant dish Imam Bayildi.

And, in another college town, there is Big Al's Sports Bar in Blacksburg, Va., home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. In addition to showing the futbol matches, Al's features chicken tenders, cheezy fries, spuds and corndog nuggets---which I've honestly never had before!

Quote of the Day- David Beckham

Today, we continue to quote people who are associated with the 32 countries in The World Cup, but this time we are actually quipping someone who is actually playing in the tournament!

David Beckham and his English team will face Algeria at 2:30 p.m. (US, eastern time) in a crucial game which will follow the game between my country The United States (well, as a Turkish-American, I also support Turkey though they are not in the World Cup) and the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, a country that Sarah Palin probably thinks borders Ghana?!

Beckham is (well doesn't everyone outside Tajikistan know this) married to a former Spice Girl, and his quote reflects that:

"I always used to go for blondes and quiet girls, but Victoria is just the opposite-----dark and loud."

It should be pointed out that even though Tajikistan is not in The World Cup they must have a decent soccer team as they beat Bangladesh 6-1 in a qualifier. But, yeah we don't think they would have beaten Argentina either!