Istanbul

Hey, did you know that there is a lot of civil unrest going on in Istanbul right now?

No

Oh right, I forgot, Beyonce showed her midriff this weekend squelching the rumors of a 2nd baby,
our "journalist" are busy.

Well anyway, there is some shit going on in Turkey. I hate this for very personal reasons. I love Istanbul, it's an amazing city and the Turkish people are some of the best people I have ever met. I have some dear friends there and I know I could just SHOW UP in Turkey and I would have a place to lay my head. That's kinda cool.

Ok so about two weeks ago protesters took over Taksim Square. It's a neat little place, good bars and restaurants. Nice place to hang out and just chill if you are chillin in Istanbul.

My friend Serenat has been blowing up my twitter. Unfortunately its in Turkish so I have had to do a lot of translating.

on a side note - Serenat means serenade. I have always said if I had a daughter I would name her Serenat because, how beautiful is that (no, you cannot steal it.....well I mean you can cause how the hell would I know). Also Serenat is beautiful both inside and out. I got a little lady crush, I'll admit it.

Now this is not an Arab spring kinda thing. Turkey is about as Western as you can get in that part of the world. They have free elections, women are not in Berkas, alcohol is allowed, its just like any other big European city.
These protesters feel that their basic way of life is being threatened.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22866043

"This is not an Arab spring", one protester, Melis Behlil, told me.
"We have free elections here. But the problem is that the person elected doesn't listen to us."

Hmmmmmm....why does this sound so familiar.....I just can't put my finger on it but I'm sure I've heard this before..........