EURO 2008

Before the weekend, I told my friends that England would get a chance for qualification after Israel beats Russia by 2-1. However, everyone was in doom and gloom.

The bottomline is that noone can imagine a tournament without the English team and supporters present. So, the footballing gods smiled on England. Now, it is up to the England team to seal their faith by beating Croatia.

In the same context, the Turkish team had their own destiny in their hands. They had to beat Norway in Norway and they managed to do exactly that by 2-1.

I think on Wednesday England is less likely to slip up than Turkey. When the groups were drawn, I couldn't believe that Turkey's luck. They couldn't have ended up in a weaker group but they made it very very difficult for themselves.

So, if I had to bet on the last games and if one of the teams couldn't qualify, I'd probably bet on Turkey losing out because of their incompetency.

Anyway, let's hope that both teams qualify and we'll have a trip to Austria/Switzerland next summer.

Golfing nun

A nun walks into Mother Superior's office and plunks down into a chair.

She lets out a sigh heavy with frustration.

"What troubles you, Sister?" asks the Mother Superior. "I thought this
was the day you spent with your family."

"It was," sighed the Sister. "And I went to play golf with my brother.
We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented
golfer before I devoted my life to Christ."

"I seem to recall that," the Mother Superior agreed. "So I take it your
day of recreation was not relaxing?"

"Far from it," snorted the Sister. "In fact, I even took the Lord's
name in vain today!"

"Goodness, Sister!" gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. "You must
tell me all about it!"

"Well, we were on the fifth tee... and this hole is a monster, Mother -
540 yard Par 5, with a nasty dogleg left and a hidden green...and I hit
the drive of my life. I creamed it. The sweetest swing I ever made.
And it's flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted... and
it hits a bird in mid-flight, not 100 yards off the tee!"

"Oh my!" commiserated the Mother. "How unfortunate! But surely that
didn't make you blaspheme, Sister!"

"No, that wasn't it," admitted Sister. "While I was still trying to
fathom what had happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my
ball and runs off down the fairway!"

"Oh, that would have made me blaspheme!" sympathized Mother. "But I
didn't, Mother Superior!" sobbed the Sister. "And I was so proud of
myself! And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God,
this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off,
with my ball still clutched in his paws!"

"So that's when you cursed," said the Mother with a knowing smile.

"Nope, that wasn't it either," cried the Sister, anguished, "because as
the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling,
and the hawk dropped him right there on the green, and the ball popped
out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!"

Mother Superior sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest,
fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said.........

"You missed the fucking putt, didn't you?"

Liverpool-Besiktas

I had told friends that this would be an easy game for Liverpool but even I didn't think it would be a new record-breaker in the Champions League history.

Although the commentators were bigging up the Liverpool players (even Harry "the donkey" Kewell), I couldn't help myself thinking that Besiktas looked like a rabbit in the headlights.

I knew that the recent defeat by Fenerbahce in the local Istanbul derby would not have helped their preparations. I have also questioned the credentials of the Besiktas coach but I though at least they would be encouraged by their recent win over Liverpool (which is not often in Europe) would fire them up. However, Besiktas didn't turn up on the night. They were not interested in playing football. They didn't care about their pride either.

As a Liverpool fan, I was secretly hoping that we'd lose to Besiktas so that we can focus on the Premier League 100%. To me, and I'm sure to many other fellow Liverpool fans, winning the Premier League is the most important target at the moment. It's heading towards 20 long years since we last won the elusive title.

One thing is for sure that this result is misleading for the team and they're still lacking skill up front. Similar to the Derby victory, this win should be taken with a pinch of salt. No other team is going to be as soulless as Besiktas.

Sample Proof of Employment Letter

Here's what I have used in the past. Feel free to use it at your own risk...

---

[Date]

[concerned organisation]
[address for the concerned organisation]


Subject: Proof of Employment for [Name]

This letter is to confirm that [name] has been full-time employed by [employer], since [employment start date] as [position].

Should you have any questions, please contact the undersigned.

Best Regards,





[Signature]

[management or hr department representative]
[employer’s address]
[Manager or HR department Tel]

Şehitler...

Şehitler, Kuvâyi Milliye şehitleri,
mezardan çıkmanın vaktidir!
Şehitler, Kuvâyi Milliye şehitleri,
Sakarya'da, İnönü'nde, Afyon'dakiler
Dumlupınar'dakiler de elbet
ve de Aydın'da, Antep'te vurulup düşenler,
siz toprak altında ulu köklerimizsiniz
yatarsınız al kanlar içinde.
Şehitler, Kuvâyi Milliye şehitleri,
siz toprak altında derin uykudayken
düşmanı çağırdılar,
satıldık, uyanın!
Biz toprak üstünde derin uykulardayız,
kalkıp uyandırın bizi!
Uyandırın bizi!
Şehitler, Kuvâyi Milliye şehitleri,
mezardan çıkmanın vaktidir!

Nâzım Hikmet - 1959

PKK

There has been increased and sustained attacks by the terrorist group PKK against the innocent Turkish people recently. As with any other terrorist group, they're trying to destabilise the Turkish people and cause trouble in the Souther territories.

I have followed in delight that the Turkish parliament has again passed a sensible legislation and voted for cross border attacks in Northern Iraq against the terrorist group if the US or the Iraqi governments do not take any action to weed these people out of the country.

In sadness, I have seen some irresponsible comments on the BBC website from so called "Kurdish" people claiming that Northern Iraq has been the least troublesome area in Iraq and any Turkish actions in the area would put this at risk. I find it utterly irresponsible when the Turkish Republic welcomed the Kurdish people in the 80s and ensured the security of Northern Iraq for years.

It is also ironic to see the US government warning Turkey not to take any action along her borders where the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq for much flimsier grounds and both countries are thousands of miles away from the US.

I hope the Turkish Republic do take necessary actions to stop the violence and I fully support them. I do not think there is any other Turkish person who wouldn't.

C'mon the Canaries

Fenerbahce has made a blistering start to the Champions League this season. The reports on the home win against Inter were sensational. That was the first game in the group stages. The result was 1-0 but Fenerbahce could have scored a lot more. Tonight they played away at CSKA Moscow tonight and managed a well deserved 2-2 draw as well. 4 points from the first 2 games cannot be a bad start for Fenerbahce at all.

It is just a huge shame that the team is not playing as well in the domestic Turkish league.

I think the upcoming 2 games against PSV is going to be crucial for Fenerbahce's dreams of getting to the next stage in the Champions League for the first time in their history. Getting 2 points from the next 2 games would help thei cause a lot and anything less than that would probably put their chances of reaching the next stage beyond reach considering that they still need to play Inter in Milan. Although one advantage is playing CSKA at home for the last game.