Amerikan Turk Amerikan Turk Compilation of opinions, ideas and observations about life, religion, politics, social and cultural issues. 
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Where I stand in 199 words
2007-01-04 09:55:02 Had the most severe episode of sleep paralysis last night.. Terrifying. Went to work 3 hours late on Tuesday.. apparently the new year also scares me. Weighed in at 179 this morning.. Need to keep it under 180 if I'm going to have a strong early season on the bike. Trading in our Honda Odyssey tomorrow for a brand new one.. Love that new car smell, but parting with the old one will be emotional. Discovered today that you can be declined life insurance if you tell them you plan to travel to Turkey for two weeks a year.. They should put my mouth in a circus- you can park a truck in there sometimes. Cancelled HBO service today.. new Sopranos season doesn't start until April 8th. Big Love? Who knows.. Going to be all alone during February.. Ebru and Reis are going to Turkey for a month and I miss them already. Spring training camp in San Diego? Majorca? Argentina? I will be in a warm place for at least a week in February. Anyone down south want to take in a Turkish has-been bike ra... More About: Word , Words , Here , Where , Stand
Bloglar Alemi: Blog of the Month
2007-01-04 09:55:02 It was by accident that I recently (and happily) discovered that Amerikan Turk earned a distinguishing achievement: Blog of the Month over at the number one Turkish blog portal, Bloglar Alemi . You can read what was said about yours truly, in both Turkish and English, by clicking here. My open message of thanks to those responsible for requiring me to continue working hard at this, is as follows.. I am eternally grateful for your generous recommendation. Receiving such a goodreview of Amerikan Turk is very intoxicating- you practically have to pull medown from the ceiling like a balloon!Recent enhancements to my template wereadded before I read this! Call it my seventh sense or intuition, my sixth sensebeing the detection of and aversion to, unnecessary work..All kidding aside, Ihungrily accept any comments ideas, criticism, compliments and hate-mailregarding Amerikan Turk's design and layout. I'd even pay money for a competentperson to go in and tighten up the code, add a 3r... More About: Fakta , Doof , The Lover
Ata-sozu, anyone?
2007-01-02 15:54:01 Amar Bakshi, a reader of the Washington Post blog 'PostGlobal', asks: What is your favorite proverb or saying from where you live that you would want to share with the world? What does your proverb tell us about today? - Before you high-tail it out of here to post your answer , please share it here first. More About: Anyone
Sitemeter Fixed!
2007-01-02 15:54:01 Appears that my template tinkering was the cause of the past few days drought of traffic.. Site meter was reporting only 60-70 visits per day, causing me all kinds of personal anguish.. then I discovered that Google Analytics was reporting about 180-190 visits a day. Seems I accidentally deleted some Sitemeter code from the very bottom footer of my template. Problem solved. All systems are 'go'. More About: Item , Fixed , Meter
Unedited Video of Saddam Hussein's Hanging
2007-01-02 15:54:01 Via Robert Lindsay , with whom I once crossed swords on the topic of Turkish nationalism (which he defines as an illness, more or less) His latest post (which contains the unedited video), receives my salute for excellent, informative commentary: "..Although in many ways he was a terrible person and a mass murderer, Saddam 's behavior prior to being hanged was dignified and proper, in my opinion. No matter how he would have behaved, his enemies would have spun it in such a way as to make Saddam look malevolent, humiliated or weak. Despite propaganda that he seemed frightened, I did not think he seemed that way. Nor did he seem especially defiant,except when taunted. At any rate, all of those gloating that Saddam seemed a wee bit frightened, I would like to see how they hold up to being hung by a rope. Saddam surely deserved this fate but I cannot see any good come of this. The fact that praise for Sadr was being shouted means that Saddam was hung by militiamen of t... More About: Video , Saddam Hussein , Edit
Why does Abdullah Ocalan still draw breath?
2007-01-02 15:54:01 Via Erkan's Field Diary, who gives us the link to Execution Culture from the blog Human Rights in Turkey"..In fact, Turkey has an excellent example of why it is useful to keep killers alive. The former leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death on charges of terrorism. But Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002. Since, Öcalan hasbeen held in solitary confinement as the only prisoner on the ?mral? Island in the Sea of Marmara. Since his arrest, Öcalan has campaigned for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict. And has called for a "Truth and Justice Commission" to investigate crimes committed by the PKK and Turkish security forces. Since his capture, he has urged his followers to abandon violence and seek peace.."More.. More About: Stil , Breath , Still , Alan , Draw
Everything you never wanted to know about "Squat Toilets"
2007-01-01 21:52:01 Via "Me and others" who has some choice words about "alaturka" and "alafranga" toilets... as do I. The good: Squatting makes elimination faster, easier and more complete. The bad: Potential for splattering of urine or feces on the legs, feet, clothes, and mouth. This is a particular problem when one has explosive diarrhea. (is there any other kind?) Here's the complete 411. More About: About , Toilets , Toilet , Everything , Know
The Economist: mock flight safety announcement
2007-01-01 21:52:01 via Hakan Aydin's blog, Aydin.net (Thanks.) Not for those who fear traveling in a huge beer can at 600 mph, 7 miles above the earth (That would be me) Your life-jacket can be found under your seat, but please do not remove it now.In fact, do not bother to look for it at all. In the event of a landing onwater, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history ofaviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landingson water is zero. More About: Economist , Safety , Men , Announcement , Light
Happy New Year- Happy Kurban Bayram
2007-01-01 09:51:02 Hope to see you all here again in 2007. Many thanks for being a visitor here in 2006.Have an excellent New Year s Eve and Bayram. Here's a little card I prepared for ya.. More About: Urban , Happy , Happy New Year
Schoolhouse Rock
2007-01-01 09:51:02 If you were a child during the seventies as I was, then the Emmy Award winning School House Rock ? cartoon series has a special place in your heart. I recently picked up the dvd for our son, containing every single one of these educational and entertaining pieces, which vary in topic from math to grammar, from to science to American history. Absolutely priceless hearing little Reis run around the house singing "Conjunction Junction". Buy the DVD here.Here's something I stumbled upon while searching for the "Nouns" cartoon: More About: Ouse
U.S. troop deaths reach 3,000
2007-01-01 09:51:02 ? NEW: Soldier was wounded in Al Anbar province ? NEW: Bush: American will not have "died in vain" ? NEW: 3,000th soldier died Wednesday in Texas military hospital Also: More than 22,000 other U.S. troops have been wounded in Iraq since the war began nearly four years ago. More About: Death , Deaths , Reach
Animal Sacrifices Maim 1,400 in Turkey
2007-01-01 09:51:02 ANKARA, Turk ey (AP) - Over a thousand Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in emergency wards on Sunday after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled animals. More More About: Animal , Anima , Sacrifice
Defining Moment of 2006
2007-01-01 09:51:02 Looking back upon the past year, particularly at my racing results, the 23rd place finish I earned at Topsfield stands out in my mind as the best day I had all season, possibly my peak. Seems pretty silly to be proud of a 23rd place finish, but when you consider that it was the first road race I've done since 1989 (I usually stick to criteriums), that it was a stacked field of pros, cat 1, 2 and 3s, and that my placing among fellow Cat 2 racers was 13th, I believe that that it's a successful performance. The other 2006 event which I'm happy about was my 6th place at Wells Ave on August 27th. True, it's just a training race, but it a large and prestigious one. This was the first time I had ever cracked the top six. Twelve months from now, I resolve to have much better results to brag about, I promise myself and I promise you. More About: Men , Moment
Newest additions to Blogroll
2007-01-01 09:51:02 NEW YORK MUHTARI Where has this blog been hiding? Lovely photographs of NYC.. Turkish Enchantress Gamze, I love that song . But who the hell is Ray Davies? The Turkish Invasion gives us "Kill marks on Ladas" . I hope those bicyclists were wearing helmets.. Mert Ulas (Turkce) Mert should be in the movies. A perfect Turkish version of Jim Carrey. His latest post is well, mmmm, how you say... 'carsaf gibi'? Grrrr. Proper Turkish sentences don't get to the point until the very last word, and that pisses me off. Also don't miss: The Infidel's three part Turkish-Armenian debate...Part One...Part Two...Part Three. More About: Blogroll , Blog , West , Roll
Saddam Hussein: Executed by Hanging
2007-01-01 09:51:02 A sad day for the world... Saddam died because of an illegal invasion of Iraq. His overtures from Baghdad calling for last minute negotiations were dismissed by Bush and his lap dogs. Things could have been different. In the end, the asshole who is responsible for the Iraq invasion, for Iraq's disintegration, civil war, untold civilian deaths, Guantanamo, Abu Ghaib, and more US casualties than 9/11, goes scot free and no doubt pats himself on the back. Weapons of mass destruction? Nope. Al-Qaeda link? Nope. Threat to United States? Nope. Dictator? Check.. Iraq has become a total horror show, and Americans are footing the bill and taking the blame. The single person capable of controlling Iraq's masses, however brutal, has been murdered. Every execution is nothing less. We've lost a few giants in this 12th month of 2006.. But if you ask me, I believe the world has been sold a bill of goods when it comes to Saddam. The vacuum which now prevails in Iraq has set loose a hornet's n... More About: Cute , Saddam Hussein
Family Guy: Stewie Shows His True Colors
2007-01-01 09:51:02 Click here to view in Italian More About: Family , Color , Show , Colors , Family Guy
Shortlist of December 2006 Deaths
More articles from this author:2007-01-01 09:51:02 December 10, 2006: Augusto Pinochet , 91, ex-president of Chile , complications from heart attack . December 14, 2006: Ahmet Ertegun , 83, Turkish -born co-founder of Atlantic Records , head injury from a fall at a Rolling Stones concert. December 21, 2006: Saparmurat Niyazov , 66, President of Turkmenistan , cardiac arrest . December 25, 2006: James Brown , 73, American rhythm and blues singer and bandleader , heart failure related to pneumonia . December 26, 2006: Gerald Ford , 93, 38th President of the United States , natural causes . December 30, 2006: Saddam Hussein , 69, former President of Iraq , execution by hanging . Complete list of notable deaths in December 2006 R.I.P More About: List , Death , Deaths , Shortlist 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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