Things We Learned on Bing Today- All Things Washington DC

So why are we posting this image of President Barak Obama with Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan; well, if you read below, you will find out in this edition of 'Things We Learned on Bing Today':

1) Namik Tan, 57, is the Turkish ambassador to the United States. Since I'm a Turkish-American, and I follow Ambassador Tan on Twitter, I was aware of this before today. But, I didn't know his age. Additionally, Tan was the ambassador to Israel from 2007-09. The Blue Marmara Flotilla Raid by Israeli forces in 2010, which claimed the life of Furkan Dogan, 18, a Turkish-American from Troy, New York, and seven others on board the ship, strained relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

2) Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), 89, a World War Two veteran, is the oldest current U.S. Senator; Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 79, is the oldest Republican in the Senate. We have heard rumors that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hates him with a passion; we have no idea how well McCain gets along with Senator Frank.

3) Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), 39, is the youngest U.S. Senator; he replaced McCain's buddy Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was Al Gore's 2000 running mate. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), (born 1971) who is known for his fringe Tea Party politics, is the youngest Republican in the U.S. Senate.

4) Mayor Joshua Cohen, also 39, is the mayor of Annapolis, Maryland, the nearest state capital to Washington, DC. In 2009, Cohen defeated Republican David Cordle 47-41 percent in the election to replace Ellen O. Moyers (D), who is now 77.

5) Coach Paul Hewitt, 50, is the current men's basketball coach at George Mason University in Fairfx, Va., which is some 35 miles south of Washington, DC. Hewitt has been coach of the Patriots since 2011; previously he was coach of Georgia Tech from 2000-11.


http://www.twitter.com/NamikTan

http://www.gomason.com

Know Your Mayors (7 of 12)-John W. Hickenlooper

Today we go to the Mile High City as we continue to profile twelve mayors of American cities. If I am so inclined, we may profile international city mayors at some juncture later this year.


Mayor John W. Hickenlooper of Denver, Col., was born in Narbeth, Pa., on Feb. 7, 1952. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University. His wife Helen Thorpe writes for magazines such as "The New Yorker."

Hickenlooper is a real estate developer who owns several restaurants in the LoDo section of Denver. And, he is one of the founders of the original Wyakoop brewing Company microbrewery.

The mayor's post in Denver is a non-partisan job, but Hickenlooper is believed to be a Democrat and he helped the city land the Democratic National Convention where Barack Obama made his historical speech last year.

Hickenlooper is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and he was named as one of the top five big city mayors in America by "Time" magazine.

Know Your Mayors (6 of 12) Dwight Clinton Jones

Today, in our sixth entry on Know Your Mayors we feature Dwight Clinton Jones (b. 1948) who recently replaced former Virginia governor Doug Wilder to become the 79th mayor of Richmond, Va.

Jones (D) is a Baptist minister who was born in Philadelphia.

He became the mayor of Richmond on Dec. 31, 2008.

Jones was previously in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1994-2008.

It is interesting to note that one previous mayor of Richmond Tim Kaine (D) became the current governor of Virginia.

Whereas the last mayor of Richmond, Wilder was a previous governor of the state. Wilder broke a race barrier when he became the first black governor of Virginia in 1990.

Know Your Mayors (4 of 12)

Today, we profile Washington, DC's mayor Adrien Fenty.

He was born on Dec. 6, 1970.

Fenty began his term on Jan. 2, 2007. He is the youngest person ever to hold the mayor's office.

He was raised in the DC neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, and he graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School.

Fenty has twins and a third child with lawyer Michelle Cross.

He got his start in politics by interning for Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio).

Fenty ran for city council in 2000. He was noted for outstanding constituent services.

He is a member of The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.

Fenty, who was an early supporter of Barack Obama, also has a thing for BlackBerrys. He has three of them.

The DC Mayor is also known for sporting his signature black fedora.

Know Your Mayors (Entry 3 of 12)

Today we turn our attention to the mayor of my hometown, Roanoke, Va., known as the Star City of the South.

He is David Bowers, 56, pictured here on the left with people who I believe are members of Roanoke City Council (sorry, no fact checkers here!).

Bowers defeated former mayor Nelson Harris last year. Bowers was previously mayor from 1992-2000, and he has also served on city council.

The mayor's day job is a lawyer. He is also a member St. Andrew's Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club.

Bowers lost a congressional election to Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) in 1998. He graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 1970 (the year I was born).

Mayor Bowers' hobbies include reading James Lee Burke novels and hiking.

Know Your Mayors (Entry 2 of 11)

Last week, we started this series with an entry about Mayor Kevin Foy of Chapel Hill, NC, who ironically teaches at North Carolina State University (For those outside ACC country, Chapel Hill is home to UNC).

This week, we select Mayor Doug Isaacson of North Pole, Alaska, pictured here in Christmas elf attire, as our mayor of the week.

For all we know, he could follow Joe Biden as our next vice president.

According to northpolealaska.com, the jurisdiction with the zip code 99705 boasts two oil refineries and many outdoor venues. North Pole, AK, is also sister cities with Itadori, Japan.

We wish everyone in North Pole, AK, and elsewhere a Merry Christmas.


UPDATE: Just out of curiosity, I ran a MapQuest between Chapel Hill, NC, and North Pole, Ak. As one might expect, the results are very interesting. The distance between 27516 and 99705 (zip codes for the two towns) is 4,353 miles. The drive would take 73 hours and 11 minutes, presuming one does not get lost in the Yukon Territory. Among the towns one would pass through are Mount Airy, NC, Wytheville, Va, Indianapolis, Ind., St. Cloud, Minn, Grand Forks, ND, then the Canadian cities of Winnipeg, Edmonton and Whitehorse........good thing, gas prices went down!