Rainy Day...Dream Away...

Some VERY Good News to Start My Day…as seen and commented upon at LGF and The Captain’s Place (here: Turks Protest Islamic-rooted Government and here: “More than one million rally in Turkey for secularism, democracy”). I’ve been following the Islamist/Secularist political drama unfolding in Turkey at the moment (in as much as one can follow events in Turkey from a US vantage point), and am heartened to see the Secularists aren’t taking the Islamist threat lying down. The Good Captain notes that “The situation looks ripe for a civil war or a coup d'état.” I don’t agree on the Civil War thing, but I DO agree about the coup d’état. The Army has issued a warning to Mr. Gul, and their track record is such that Mr. Gul had best take their warning seriously. Those guys simply don’t play around. As long as things (political things) are going well…read that as a secular government, as Atatürk intended…the Army stays in the background. But let things get out of hand, as the current situation has all the signs of doing, and the Army will move in… suddenly and over night.

The military has had a record of intervening in politics. Indeed, it assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coup d'etats in 1960, 1971, and 1980. Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented president, Necmettin Erbakan, in 1997.

The wiki doesn’t talk about the coup of the mid-to-late 50’s. The first time I ever saw tanks in the street was when I lived in Turkey (in Ankara, the capital) as a teen-ager, around 1958. It was a sight that was simultaneously intimidating and confidence-inspiring. And it’s a sight one never forgets…believe me.

The Army is a much better alternative than Shar’ia…and the secular Turks know and understand this. Let’s hope the Islamists do, too.

In Today’s “What Does This Mean” category…I had three visitors searching for “aieeee” today. Three! Both of you Frequent Readers may remember I thought it was sorta funny that someone had stumbled upon EIP after searching for aieee a week or so ago. And now today, three more.

IP Address 122.168.18.98 (Unknown Organization)
Time of Visit Apr 29 2007 3:15:06 am
Last Page View Apr 29 2007 3:15:06 am
Referring URL http://www.google.co...hl=en&q=aieeee&meta=
Search Engine google.co.in
Search Words aieeee

IP Address 59.95.98.120 (NIB (National Internet Backbone))
Time of Visit Apr 29 2007 6:15:03 am
Last Page View Apr 29 2007 6:15:03 am
Referring URL http://www.google.co...ay&btnG=Search&meta=
Search Engine google.co.in
Search Words solutions of aieee 2007 helded on 29 april 2007 Sunday

IP Address 59.180.111.36 (MTNL CAT B ISP)
Time of Visit Apr 29 2007 7:44:32 am
Last Page View Apr 29 2007 7:44:32 am
Referring URL http://www.google.co...=Google Search&meta=
Search Engine google.co.in
Search Words aieeee

India. Therein lays the answer. Aieeee, in its other incarnation, isn’t an exclamation at all…it’s an acronym that stands for “All India Engineering/Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE).” Ya just gotta follow those links! But a minor mystery remains: Why four “e’s” in all the searches and not three?

And by the way…if you’re interested in what these folks are testing for, the syllabi for the entrance exams are here. The mathematics syllabus is particularly interesting. Can you imagine your average American high school grad taking that test? Me neither.

No motorcycle riding today…thunderstorms and high wind are the orders of the day. I’ll stay in and watch the weather. After all, discretion IS the better part of valor.

Speaking of motorcycles and stuff…I’ve been popping lots of Aleve since Friday. I evidently pulled a muscle in my lower back while righting the bike in that San Jon parking lot. I absolutely, positively hate this feeling…due in no small part to the fact that I slipped a disk back in April of 1998, with back surgery as a result. Ergo, any time I get back pain I think catastrophic thoughts. I don’t want to go through that experience ever again…and that’s the understatement of the day!