Debate from Iowa Minus Donald Trump Tweets (2 of 3)

Wow! That photo of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at the bottom took all night to download, but it is in the public domain. The image at the top, also in the public domain (we hope), is of Donald Trump who decided he was too big for tonight's Republican debate. And, in the middle, since the GOP always aims to win over evangelicals, is an image of the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, Iowa,.........oh, we forgot some evangelical Baptists don't like Catholics..........oh well...........!

Here are the tweets:

1) Chris Cillizza (Washington Post): Best to worst so far.....1. Rand 2. Jeb 3. Rubio 4. Christie 5. Cruz 6. Kasich 7. Carson

2) Chuck Todd (NBC): But the more muddled this debate is it ends up helping one candidate.....the elephant not in the room.....(great pun, Chuck!)....

3) Ken Rudin (NPR): Oooops. Paul makes case against abortion. But if he were a true libertarian would he not leave to the states and stay out of it?

4) Bill Mitchell (conservative): The callers to CSPAN are VERY positive about Trump!

5) Doug Aus (liberal): Nabela Noor tells the GOP the truth....Islamophobia is radicalizing ISIS.

6) Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks): I propose we do a debate where every candidate has to do a shot of liquor before every question. That's the only way we'll get real answers.

7) Dan Speerin (liberal): My plan is to starve all Iranians.....because peace.....Marco Rubio....

8) Daniel Ashford (conservative): I believe we need a unifier on the right. I believe that person is Carson. He is the American dream and he is in this for America and not for himself.

9) Matt Soleyn (fiscal conservative): Rand Paul thinks people having sexual relations with an intern would lead to them being fired. He needs to visit Wall Street.

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 Kansas- The State Capitol

Welcome to those of you who have just finished watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" reruns on TV Land. Tonight, we are going to do something slightly different by pretending that we are writing an actual postcard to Aysegul Akdemirli, a fictional person in Izmir, Turkey.

Interestingly enough, we learned tonight that former U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican, is now the governor of Kansas; this image is of the state capitol in Topeka. Unlike me, Gov. Brownback is pro-choice, but we are both morally opposed to capital punishment. But, I''m not sure this in itself will get me an offer to have lunch with the governor at the Row House Restaurant in Topeka as I am a Democrat.

Here is our postcard........

Merhaba Aysegul,

How are things in Izmir? I really miss Turkish food especially doner kebab. I recently passed through Kansas, and I saw that the gas station I stopped at only had postcards of the Kansas capitol building. This is also the state where Dorothy and Toto went to see the Wizard of Oz. Yes, it's the movie with a song about the yellow brick road. Well, I must get going, I inadvertently parked in a handicap parking space.

Gule Gule...........

http://www.ksabolotion.org (Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty)

http://www.tvland.com

http://www.ksdp.org/ (Kansas Democratic Party)

http://www.rowhouserestaurant.com

http://www.kshs.org

Quote of the Week- Jean Paul Sartre

While putting this piece together, I was struck by the irony that my late Turkish father and the late French Marxist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) both enjoyed smoking pipes even though my father was a bit of a right-wing Turkish nationalist!

Sartre, who was also among the leading atheist intellectuals in France, is known for his widely-read short story collection "Le Mur/The Road" (1938) and his philosophy collection "Being and Nothingness" (1943).

I found a copy of a book called "Sartre for Beginners" (1998), written by Philip Thordy and Howard Reed and published by Icon Books, at the Internationalist Bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC.

Icon Books recently published a book by English author Kate Munro called "The First Time" about modern sexuality, which also sounds like an interesting read.

Due to time constraints are quote today is going to be extremely short; we are planning to have quotes from many French people past and present in July. This entry is part of our month-long series on quotes from left-wing, radical figures. Here is the quip from Sartre:

"Hell is other people."

SIDEBAR: While I was trying to put this entry together at the Wilson, NC, public library (not really where I am at!), a group of children came through the doors and they really annoyed me. As the late American comic actor W.C. Fields once said: "No one qho hate dogs and children can be all that bad."

I don't dislike children as individuals, but when there are large groups of them, they get on my last nerve, which is perhaps why it is a good thing that I am not a father.

But, I found this interesting disclosure from someone who did not give their name or hometown on myworstsecret.com who professes an even more profound distaste for children than I do. This person and I are probably very different in other aspects of life, which I will go into after showing what he or she said:

"I hate children. I really do. Oddly enough, I'm pro-life and have a 2 year old. I don't want kids to DIE, I just can't stand them."

Personally, I am a moderate liberal (though I love to quote socialists; it must come from being surrounded by Yosemite Sam Republicans) and I am pro-choice. Also, I would not use the word hate for how I feel about children, but in groups of two or more, they do tend to profoundly annoy me!

Ironically, I had a post on this blog for Children's Day in Turkey, which is on April 23rd....

Top 10 Riskiest Neckties to Wear to Work...

The "Tom and Jerry" necktie pictured above probably would NOT cause problems at work unless you had a very uptight boss, however even in hip, liberal places like Berkeley, Calif., or Boulder, Colo., many of these neckties would not be cool. Conversely, rebel flag and Stop Abortion neckties would not work well in an office environment in Lynchburg, Va., (actually we're not certain about that!).

Incidentally, all of these listed ties are available from zazzle.com or other Internet outlets!

Here is our list:

1. Che Guevara necktie (pictured)
2. Marijuana leaf necktie (pictured)
3. Old Soviet Union flag necktie
4. Chairman Mao neckties
5. Stop Abortion neckties
6. Koranic scripture neckties (definitely not a good idea on the Liberty University campus!)
7. Confederate Flag necktie
8. Playboy emblem necktie
9. Two Grooms with Brown Hair necktie (or any other overt gay neckties, not in the fashion sense)
10. Nude Woman Drinking Beer necktie

Other ties that were considered:

Palestinian Flag neckties (really bad idea if you're going to meet with Sen. Joe Lieberman on The Hill).
Rush Limbuagh neckties
Josef Stalin neckties
No Condom neckties
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk neckties (bad idea if you're in Glendale, Calif., which is home to America's largest Armenian population!)