Friday Night Tweets: Netflix and Domestic Politics

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, England, and New Zealand.........though if you are a taxi driver in Konya, Turkey, who can't speak a word of English, thanks for dropping in here as well!

Most of tonight's tweets dealt with politics, though there were mentions of various sporting events and one in particular about Netflix, which you will read here.....


1) The Daily Edge: Comcast's conservative CEO will do whatever it takes to help the Kochs steal the next election.

2) The New York Times: "10 years later, infamous Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman remains invisible" (Actually, it is now 12 years; Clark, the Cubs mascot, pict. top)

3) Talking Points Memo: Chef Jose Andres pulled out of deal with Trump after 'rapist' comments, Trump is suing for $10 mil.

4) New Republic: Netflix finally found its hit first reboot success with "Wet Hot Summer" prequel.

5) Politico: Jon Stewart (pict. center) slipped unnoticed into the White House in the midst of the October 2011 budget fight.

6) The Hill: Dems put pressure on GOP's Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) ahead of Planned Parenthood vote.

7) The Paris Review: "I think that a garbage collector is as sensitive as any author," J.P. Donleavy (the Irish author of "The Ginger Man" is still alive at age 89)

8) Joel Brown (ABC 11, Raleigh, NC, tv news reporter): Fly ball injures child at tonight's Durham Bulls game.

9) Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN, pict. bottom): "Between 1968-2011 blacks nationwide were 4.2 times more likely to die at the hands of whites." 

Virtual Postcard of Turkey: Konya Eregli

Since Oct. 29th was Turkish Republic's Day, we thought we'd salute my late father Mehmet Gokbudak's country with an image from Konya Eregli, the town where he was born in 1921. Two years later, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk formed the Republic of Turkey, with Ankara as its capital.

My late grandfather Fuat Gokbudak, who alas does not yet have a Vikipedia* page, represented the Konya province in the Turkish Parliament during its early years. But, Fuat bey is mentioned as a member of the first parliament.

*-Vikipedia is the Turkish version of Wikipedia

Eid Mubarak (Happy Ramadan) To All Our Muslim Friends

We want to sincerely wish all our Muslim friends a Happy Ramadan.

The image here is that of Nasreddin Hodja (Hoca) who is a fictional variation of a supposed real Sufi Muslim philosopher/wise man with a flair for comedy and irony who lived near Konya, Turkey.

While The Hodja is a beloved fable character in Turkey and the Middle East, there are also regional variations of the figure in other parts of the Muslim world.

One of the more unique is perhaps Nasriddin Afandi in Uzbekistan.