Top 10 Countries to Run Away To If Romney Wins

Yes, if former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ascends to the Oval Office, those of us who are politically center-left, Democrats, progressives and even perhaps even Libertarians may want to seek shelter or political asylum in a foreign country as one will quickly realize his 'I'll find a job for you' will work only for members of his billionaires boys club.

So, here are ten suggestions to get away from it all for at least four years should Armageddon strike as it did when George W. Bush was elected in 2000:


1) Slovenia (pictured above): Amazingly enough this former Yugoslav republic is flourishing and the country recently made headlines for actually naming a bridge after Chuck Norris!

2) Argentina: Like most of of Latin America, Argentina had a turbulent period in the 1970s, but happy days are apparently here again.

3) Costa Rica: This will give a chance to finally see a blue frog!

4) Iceland: 24 hours of daylight during the spring and summer months will allow one to play golf at 3:00 a.m. Iceland Air recently began flights to Denver!

5) Norway: Kayaking in the fjords should give a person the opportunity to forget about partisan gridlock on the Beltway.

6) South Africa: Could give you a chance to see lions and cheetahs.

7) Cyprus (pictured below): The Turks and Greeks will probably argue over this island nation for centuries to come, but there are lots of great beaches and if problems resurface there is always the American embassy in Nicosia (the castle pictured is actually in Kyrenia; to let you on the in-joke, Tilly Gokbudak, the 'executive editor of this blog' is a Turkish-American).

8) Chile: See Argentina

9) Estonia: Tajikistan, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia.....yes, most of the former Soviet Republics have not really benefited from the collapse of the USSR, but Estonia is managing quite well.

10) Canada: Winner of the coin flip over France.


http://www.slovenia.info 

http://www.tourism-costarica.com

http://www.visiticeland.com

http://progressive-blogs.com

The Rabbit Ears Quiz (9 of 12)_ Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Today, we look at the great 30-minute documentary series "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," which had an impressive 25-year run from 1963-88, and the series actually lived on for a brief while after the death of its host Marlin Perkins (1905-1986).

A new incarnation of the series was developed by Animal Planet, and that show which is still on the air hit the airwaves in 2002.

The original "Wild Kingdom" pioneered the nature show format, which can be seen today in series like "Nature" on PBS and various shows which air on The Discovery Channel and The National Geographic Channel.

The series also featured Jim Fowler, who remains one of America's leading animal experts.

"Wild Kingdom" traveled to diverse areas to film wildlife, including Kenya, South Africa and Brazil (the Amazon River basin).

Today, for our quiz, we ask which state was Perkins born in; is the answer:

A) Missouri

B) Ohio

C) Texas

D) Arkansas

Quoting William Shakespeare (1 of 5)

For those of you who have actually read both of my blogs today (people in Slovenia are actually reading this?!; ok!) if you look closely this is not the same William Shakespeare bobblehead doll that I used on "The Daily Vampire."

As it is, we are quoting the Bard on Thursdays this month. Interestingly enough, the last time we referenced Shakespeare on this blog was regarding CliffsNotes. Hopefully, young people will go that route rather than merely digging up stuff from Wikipedia. It's ironic that modern technology has made some previous classroom taboos, such as reading CliffsNotes, more acceptable in this modern age.

And, with that said here is our quote from Shakespeare, and for the record, I think he really wrote his plays:

"An overflow of good converts to bad."

Currently, a stage production of the Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" is being performed by the North Carolina Shakespeare Company at the High Point Theatre, which is in (of course) High Point, NC.

A production of the same play is being performed by Triad Stage in nearby Greensboro; the two companies are separate from each other.

SIDEBAR: Since today is World AIDS Day, well it is late at night now everywhere except perhaps Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, I thought I would post an appreciation to the late Freddie Mercury, who was the lead singer of the pioneering
'70s and '80s rock band Queen. Mercury died 20 years ago of AIDS complications at age 45 on November 24th, 1991.

The band's most famous song (well, arguably) "Bohemian Rhapsody" become a popular hit again shortly after Mercury's death as it was used in the movie "Wayne's World."

Domestically, AIDS has hit many cities hard, especially Washington, DC, and New Orleans. And, many countries in Africa, including South Africa and Tanzania have dealt with AIDS epidemics.

SIDEBAR 2: The answer to our Rabbit Ears Quiz question from earlier in the week is
C) $199. Yes, this is what a "Land of the Lost" lunchbox from the early '70s is reportedly worth!

Status Update_ The Irony of It All

Our Status Update for this afternoon is a rather short and simple one, which is due in part to me being cyber-fleeced by someone pretending to be a hot girl from Istanbul, Turkey. Similarly, a 'very attractive woman' from South Africa told me 'how handsome I was today.' Ahhh, yes....it would be nice if I actually could believe her.

The image above incidentally is of the very good-looking actress Bridget Moynahan who somehow hasn't lured into watching her new tv show "Blue Bloods" on CBS with Tom Selleck, perhaps it's because Magnum is a Republican!

Oh, yes, we almost forgot, here is the Status Update for today:

"If there is one thing I love about Facebook, it's the irony that it's taught me to NEVER trust gorgeous women."