Here you are thehandom, your (posts disguised as a) column criticism thread.

I really am having trouble with why you are taking the time of writing your posts as a column and then adding your own comments about why you disabled the comments?   And I think we have had the thorny prickly issue of manhood proportions and erectile dysfunction subject before?? 

Come on thehandsom, you can do better than this  

Feel free folks! 

Quite LL. 

I have read thehandsom´s second column on this mysterious missing document and found it more plausible than the first since he seems to have dropped the bogus "Action plan for Sheria" title. There is still some second guessing of the army´s intentions however. I think thehandsom sometimes tends to over egg his posts much to the annoyance of certain individuals. Maybe that is his intention.

So, should we make this sticky or something so when anyone of our columnist feels like disabling the comments and have one saying, people be able to come here and say what they like about that column without having the thread lost among other threads at off the topics ?!

Your rationale for blocking comments from your column is pathetic and completely inept. 

You say you aren´t afraid of criticism??  Then why block?  Is your ego really so big that you get to determine what is unneccesary and pointless?  Shouldn´t that be for the readers to decide? 

I think that you may be the one who should get over it. 

Agree Canli! 

 My rationale for starting this thread, as thehandsom mentions we can use the forum to be critical or complimentary, where columnist decide to disable the comments section,  so here is the route to that.

It appears there are alot of things shrinking in Turkey, just not the economy based on handsomes post.   I wonder if the enviornment is a contributer to this...or possible effects of tourism going down.

 hee heee, so gg, you see Jan was right all along lol

 Nah...I still think jan´s just a whiney little man......just like handsom.....which most likely explains why they hate each other so much!  

Actually handsom, gg said enough that i dont need to add anything !

hmmmm, well maybe will add juuust a little  lol

Yes, handsom we know you well enough to know that you dont like or accept any criticism lol

Just a tiny whisper....that wasnt courageous lol

Ýf you really think/believe what you said is correct, you wouldnt be afraid of what other people would say about it, dimi ?!

 Nobody is right and wrong...and why are you avoiding commenting on the shrinking issue Turkey faces...isn´t that why LL started this thread  so we can discuss columns posted. This is serious Canli!  Shrinking is not a good thing to Turks this could mean Erdogans call for women to have at least seven kids will be at risk.  

I just wonder why handsom isn´t posting in the forums!!! 

 Why am i avoiding commenting on the shrinking issue  ?

Because i wont comment on back doors !

Ý wasnt allowed to comment on the colomn itself, so i didnt and wont re-read it after he amend it and comment on it else way

When he is brave enough to talk and hear what others have to say, then we can have debates about it...but not a second before that !

Sry, my opinion.

 No!  thehandsom threw the gauntlet and I caught it! 

Actually you think Turkey faces a shrinking issue?  Ahaha! surely the western women will suffer the most.............Perhaps his next column will critically appraise the serious matter of  how Turkish men should juggle multiple affairs  especially with the erectile dysfunction and lack of errmmmmm proportions?

Now that would be interesting

If anybody thinks taht the columns are politically biased, and think that columnists shouldn´t be able to disable comments, I welcome you to become a columnist and publish your own subjective opinions about Turkey, and also exercise the right to disable comments.

I think anytime anyone talks about politics or religion, there is bound to be some bias.  It seems ok to me that there is a place where people can write how they feel on this site and not have to worry about being raked over the coals for their thoughts.  If individuals would like to have a discussion about their opinions they can post on the forums.  I would hope that people are intelligent enough to read a column and then make up their own minds without anyone feeling that they have to set the record straight......Just my thoughts! 

 You are right Elisabeth, but just look at the column and it is a few posts and not even original at that (they have been churned over before), so why not write them as posts and not use the columns for that purpose??

When you write a column it should be a stand alone document. What theH has done is use it to post his ideas under the cover of  "News from Turkey", not his perception of the goings on in Turkey...but "News from Turkey"....when it is in fact theH´s perception of things in Turkey.  News requires some statements be substantiated.....not just someone said such and such....with no supporting documentation.

Then he sees fit to change it every few days, erasing the former document.  This is the most bizzar column I´ve seen.  He is using it as his own personal "Bully Pulpit"

That´s exactely what columnist do the majority of the time.  They take a piece in the news and elaborate their opinions supported by actual events.  I don´ t see how thehandsom is any different.  It is up to thehandome to select his topics, not you or I.  And it´s up to the reader whether or not they enjoy reading his columns.  So far thehandsome has had more publicity than any other columnist, he would do well at the New York Times...

 ............and when they do they clearly state WHAT is their opinion and what is fact.....and that is not what theH has done.  Of course he should select his topics......but he doesn´t have the stomach to take any criticism for what he says....IOW...some would call that "chicken".......

Yes, he would fit right up there with Judith Miller....ooops she´s not reporting for the New York Times now...seems her credibility has been squandered.

Bet he is loving all this attention!!

 I´m sure he is

you are very funny!

always trying to find a solution.

it would be better if he add a note under his column

like--> "comments are on forum"

I am really disappointed I can´t comment under column but I think I can see theh point..subconsciously he exposes himself for criciticism and loves it..just a kind of masochism .otherwise he would not do that..ehh,theh grow up and accept things..the way they are..

 Agree, except I don´t agree with the subconsciously bit; more deliberate then he becomes the victim.     Writing comment to TC members in the column?? ............ unprofessional.  If you have something to say have the guts to say it in the public forum.

what a cooperation

someone is writing a column on main page.

other one is opening comment page in forum instead of him

Did we make a rule against it?   It was a generalised comment mentioning no names (not that he needed to) - and who says that mentioning names in a ´column´ is ´unprofessional´ anyway?   Professional newspaper columnists do it all the time - both directly and indirectly.

If there was a part of thehandsom´s latest column I would criticise it´s the joke - I´m afraid Turkish humour still eludes me!  I think he should appoint lessluv sub-editor for the jokes 

I always look forward to the thehandsomes columns..

 I didn´t like to admit I didn´t get it () I can only imagine that it was really funny at the time.....but got lost in translation.......

Fee for editing jovial writings........hmmm Priceless

I too am sometimes confused by thehandsom´s sense of humour. Sometimes difficult to tell when he is being serious.  

 I said I didn´t find the joke funny not that I didn´t understand thehandsom´s sense of humour

 I did find the joke funny. I quite like the anecdotal style of the Nasreddin jokes.   What I meant was that I find some of thehandsom´s articles comical particularly the one about the "missing document" that may or may not have existed.   We all know thehandsom´s dogmatic style and can make allowances.

+1

It s good to see logical members

This thread is one big good joke!

Oh, and the joke in the last column was terrible, but I´m suspecting it had a deeper meaning..

Tamerlane is the emperor, and he is asking Hodja an indirect question about his worth. Hodja doesn´t risk directly insulting the emperor, so he responds in an indirect and witty way saying that he is a worthless person sans his belongings.

It won´t bring out tears from laughter but I think it is an interesting/funny/smart anectode. 

Dear Admin,

Explain these too

Once upon a time the Hodja was a judge and one day a man came to him.
“Your cow has killed mine!”, he cried.
The Hodja shouted:
“You silly fellow, how can the cow know that it is a crime to kill another cow. Case dismissed!”
“Oh sorry”, said the man. “I said it wrong. My cow has killed yours.”
“Then, this is another problem”, said the Hodja. “We´ll open the black book and see what it says.”

One day, people said to the Hodja:
“Your wife walks from house to house, tell her she mustn´t walk so much,”. “Alright”, said the Hodja. “If she comes to our house, I´ll tell her.”

One day, the Hodja went to another village. Nobody offered him something to eat, instead they asked him:
"Hodja, why do people yawn?”
“There are two reasons: One of them is tiredness, the other is hunger.”
After yawning for a while he finished up his words:
“I´m not tired!”

Sounds like if the Hodja was smart he wouldn´t have traveled to a different village and order the man with the dead cow to split the meat.  Hodja wouldn´t have been starved then, maybe alittle sleepy.

The new joke is just as confusing as the old one! What do you guys think the punchline is this time..???

Many of Hodja´s jokes are about the daily life in the 15th century Akþehir a town in central Anatolia. In Hodja´s time, Anatolia was under the invasion of the Timurid Empire led by Tamerlane (The Limpy)  who was of  Turko-Mongolian ancestry. Tamerlane is recognized as one of the mightiest emperors in history. He put an end to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire capturing Sultan Yildirim Bayezid who had himself been at the height of his achievements. As a result of Tamerlane´s invasion of Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire would go through a period marked by the lack of central authority that gave way to the formation of landlords each controlling a part of the Anatolian territory.

Tamerlane had many elephants in his army. Since elephants consume big amounts of food, they were a big liability for the army. He had ordered the animals to be distributed to villages and towns to be fed by the locals. One of the elephants had been sent to Hodja´s village. The appetite of the animal appalled the villagers who could barely feed themselves.  When the problem became intolerable, they gathered together to see Hodja asking them to find a solution to the problem.

- Hodja, you know about the problems we are having with this elephant. It is eating up all our harvest.

- Sure I do.

- You are the most educated person in the village who surely knows how to speak eloquently. You can tell Tamerlane about our big complaint and ask him to take away this damn elephant.

-Sure I can but you should come with me too. Don´t expect me to confront him on my own. When he asks whether you really want it to be taken away, you must be there to back me.

Everyone agrees, so they hit the road. On the way to Tamerlane´s palace Hodja turns back and sees that most of the volunteers had departed in fear of their lives. The more they go, the more of them leave and since the word of their visit had gone to Tamerlane there would be no cancelling. In the end, an angry Hodja enters the palace of Temurlane alone. Tamerlane asks:

- Hodja, you´ve come to see me about the elephant. Is there a problem? Is the animal sick or dead? You know this would no go unpunished.

"On the contrary sire!" says Hodja. In fact, we feel so honored by this gift of yours that  I have just come to ask for another one. 

 maybe it s not easy for you to understand such a joke. it will take time for you to understand one night u will wake up suddenly and laugh

 Well I guess I will just have to hand my sapik crown over now!!

What do you mean? Is there anybody who gets even close to you in sapikness?

 only sapikness part of her brain works I think

 I resent that statement........I haven´t been sapik in ages... well not publicly anyway

(well not since teaschip´s semi naked mowing incident)

new column about analistik sex is really interesting. but we want pictures

 Well now this comment is really quite revealing isn´t it!

 what?

 It´s ANIMALISTIC not analistik!!!

Such a good example of a Freudian slip!  

 And he wants to see PICTURES!!!! 

 LMAO!  Maybe he really meant analistik?!

 I did have to read the column twice to make sure that I didn´t get it wrong...you never know with handsom!!! 

hahahhahahhahahhahahahahhaha

 yes ha ha... true colours come out now ha ha

Columnists must give references in their colums webpages, links, books hehehe