Super Excitement - It Never Fails

It is Super Bowl week. It "officially" begins tonight with the kickoff of the Pro Bowl. It ends next Sunday when a new Super Bowl champion is crowned. In between there are parties, Media Day, interviews, overblown analysis, and NBC shoving their stars in our faces as much as humanly possible. I hear a new show is premiering on Monday...I think it's called "Smush."<br /><br />But even with all of that ringamaroll, I still find myself excited. Any sports purists out there may wave their hand and wish that it was 1976, where the Super Bowl festivities consisted of four quarters and a performance by Up With People. I, on the other hand, say bring it on! Read on to find out why.<br /><br /><b>1. It sure beats watching the snow fall</b><br />The Super Bowl is placed at the most ideal time of year: the time when NOTHING is going on. Christmas cheer has finally worn off, the idea of shoveling for a fourth time in one week gives you a headache, and the Oscars are still weeks away. March Madness is a tiny pinprick in the distance, and even though "pitchers and catchers reporting" sends you into spirals of glee, the season still doesn't actually begin until April.<br /><br />What else are you going to do the first weekend of February? It is an opportunity to set aside the mundane everyday tasks and figure out how an office pool really works. I personally plan on going to the store and selecting food items I wouldn't normally choose. TGIFriday's green bean fries and queso dip, for example. (Probably not together.) <br /><br /><b>2. It is entertaining to watch non-sports people try to talk football</b><br />A lot of people may hear their friend talk sports and think they're nuts. After all, this friend hasn't watched a lick of football all season and is taking their knowledge of the Big Game from...Access Hollywood? I, on the other hand, laugh and enjoy them as they sound...silly. (They are our friends, after all. Let's be nice.) A lot of times they spout off information just because they want to fit in. But occasionally they actually are interested in what people have to say and want to sound smart around the water cooler.<br /><b> </b><br />I, for one, enjoy sounding intelligent as I recall the last NFC team to win back-to-back Super Bowls (Cowboys in '93 and '94) as they scramble to remember the name of the Patriots' tight end (Rob Gron-kow-ski, to help you sound it out).<br /><br /><b>3. Everyone knows who is playing!</b><br />Sure, this matchup of the Patriots and the Giants is incredibly intriguing...if it was 2007 and the Patriots were 18-0. Sure, Harbaugh Bowl would have been a lot more fun. But everyone knows who is playing. People will be whispering "Patriots" or "Giants" during meetings. They might even be mentioned in that morning's sermon. For one week, everyone will have two teams on their mind. And even though your heart bleeds Honolulu Blue, you'll probably be rooting for Classic Blue or Navy Blue for three hours. <br /><br /><b>4. ...the Commercials...</b><br />Even for all of the Patriots-Giants talk, the only way that the game gets more talk than the commercials on Monday would be if Tom Brady and Eli Manning decided to switch sides in the second quarter. So of course people are going to get excited for the prospect of the commercials! I have to say "prospect," because it's likely that only three or four are really going to make you laugh or make you think. There will be eighteen stupid beer commercials, ten animal commercials, eight movie trailers, and one commercial that comes out of nowhere and really makes you wonder, "What was that about again?"<br /><br />So there are four reasons that I always get excited for the Super Bowl. I will do my best to avoid the overhype and NBC promotional material and enjoy the aspects that I like. If you do the same, I'm sure you'll enjoy this little break in the monotony as well.

Super Excitement - It Never Fails

It is Super Bowl week. It "officially" begins tonight with the kickoff of the Pro Bowl. It ends next Sunday when a new Super Bowl...

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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvriSkisIRuxuaSU59-_CvPAEp3hOTBl7fRSfdunikRMXa079vIVeeMeGG20_J3VqKuiBDJYAKpgyEhd8qgBoh-pB3_L3OyYJkZcETKwIw-ggP-ykWDGKELBjbjquvUv38IUV6uypcy-K/s1600/90b541fa409db47097dd415c86b2a672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvriSkisIRuxuaSU59-_CvPAEp3hOTBl7fRSfdunikRMXa079vIVeeMeGG20_J3VqKuiBDJYAKpgyEhd8qgBoh-pB3_L3OyYJkZcETKwIw-ggP-ykWDGKELBjbjquvUv38IUV6uypcy-K/s400/90b541fa409db47097dd415c86b2a672.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-large;">  </span></div><div style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Israeli Exports to Turkey rise 42% to equal exports to Germany </span></div><br />What we are made to believe is one thing, what occurs in reality is another. This obviously applies in geopolitics and is one of the causes as to why conspiracy theories becoming increasingly popular amongst a broader spectrum of internet users and thus causes eyebrow rising among the “ruling establishment”. <br />Take for example the current eco - political rift between TURKEY and ISRAEL. For month now we are made to believe that relations between the two nations are going down the drain, due to the GAZA flotilla incident, (see <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a>) and that this rift will have serious percussion's on the Geo-strategic situation in the MIDDLE EAST. Looking at the latest economic trade figures between the two countries it becomes evident that reality is somewhat different then what we are made to believe. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">According to latest data, exports from ISRAEL to TURKEY rose 42% to $1.85 billion in 2011, while exports to GERMANY totaled $1.94 billion. This showcases that deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries has not affected trade.<br />ISRAELI exports to TURKEY totaled $132.1 million in December 2011, 51% more than in the corresponding month.<br />ISRAELI imports TURKEY rose 20.6% from 2010 to $2.1 billion in 2011, <br />resulting in a trade deficit of $321 million.<br />ISRAELI exports to EGYPT and JORDAN rose 26% in 2011. </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Stats obtained via Globes </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Witty Turks </b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqpDI6Z-0tHu7gFWMS9vZZXCGetCHI8r51qYODnVZuL94scExeZDqmI6GiELkjTa2Kaf0o7NmEKlhTacdoSl68BCBH3Q2A6lNnwr81jDRBIpMdsgvegkAuxe-TfWMTkS291Enf0vmMrSk/s1600/balanced_seesaw-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqpDI6Z-0tHu7gFWMS9vZZXCGetCHI8r51qYODnVZuL94scExeZDqmI6GiELkjTa2Kaf0o7NmEKlhTacdoSl68BCBH3Q2A6lNnwr81jDRBIpMdsgvegkAuxe-TfWMTkS291Enf0vmMrSk/s320/balanced_seesaw-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As for TURKEY one should also not forget that it plays a similar game with IRAN. On the one hand TURKEY is in alliance with the USA and the EU in supporting the tumbling of the SYRIAN regime which is supported by IRAN. TURKEY on the other hand, officially at least, does not considers IRAN as being its favorite neighbor but nevertheless assists IRAN to bypass the oil embargo by facilitating INDIA with HALK BANKASI bank transactions so that INDIA is able to conduct its oil trade with IRAN in gold. Last but not least TURKEY seems to keep a political backdoor open by only adhering to sanctions against IRAN’S nuclear program if imposed by the UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, which is a no go for RUSSIA and CHINA will never ratify these sanctions, thus giving TURKEY the leverage to deal with its neighbors according to its eco-political needs.

  Israeli Exports to Turkey rise 42% to equal exports to Germany What we are made to believe is one thing, what occurs in reality is another...

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