Entries from February 2008 ↓

I’m feeling a little under the weather, but I’m still planning to catch my flight to Izmir tomorrow AM. I haven’t been there for a sermon meeting since October because the hajj season interrupted their regular schedule, so I’m glad to be getting back in touch. My last visit was great.
From Izmir I’ll take a [...]

I entered a supermarket In Bursa and immediately noticed that Michael Jackson’s Thriller was playing on the sound system in all its glory. Wow, I thought, it’s been a while since I’ve heard that.
On the ferry back to Istanbul I bought a magazine because the cover headline read “Faith 2.0″ and had features on cross-cultural [...]

I’m in Bursa for my weekly observation of the sermon selection meeting at the offices of the mufti. The ferryboat from Istanbul arrives early so I always have about three hours to kill. I’ve found that the most comfortable place to hang out is the Starbucks at a mall near the mufti building. This is [...]

Just 54 people voted in the Democratic primary in Turkey last Saturday, but thousands more voted around the world. Tonight I learned the Turkish results:
Obama: 60%
Clinton: 33%
I thought we’d learn the results for the global primary, but the election in London was held at a pub and I think they’re still trying to count the [...]

On January 1 I said I was going to use the Seinfeld method to help me meet my goals, and so far I’ve been successful. My primary goal was to write at least 850 words each day, and I also wanted to wake up at 6 AM every day in January, including Saturdays and Sundays.
Done [...]

Turkey’s Parliament Votes to Lift Head Scarf Ban [NY Times]
Turkey’s parliament took a major step toward lifting a ban against women’s head scarves in universities on Saturday, setting the stage for a final showdown with the country’s secular elite over where Islam fits in the building of an open society.

You should read the rest of [...]

I woke up early, read the paper, and learned that I had one last chance to participate in the U.S. primaries.
This is the first year that Democrats Abroad has arranged for an online global primary, meaning that U.S. citizens living abroad can vote via Internet, fax, mail, and in person in 34 countries. I heard [...]