Well, you are the boss when it comes to the 60´s. My biggest contribution to the sixties was being born in that decade. The emphasis here is not on Barba´s age. I was just trying to draw people´s attention to the caricaturized image of the 70´s.

In a nutshell, although certain aspects of society was considerably less developed compared to the present time, the 70´s people were a lot more interested in philosophy, poetry, literature and they used to get involved in a lot of different social organizations. Despite the obvious lack of infrastructure and means, they travelled more and with a purpose other than business or relaxation. These people were in pursuit of knowledge and they are in contrast with today´s new generation in these regards. Try asking a 24 year, what he thinks about the social problems of our day. You would hear a lengthy lecture did you ask that question in the 70´s.

As for Amy Whinehouse and Britney Spears comparison. I still think Amy is a bit more informed, at least her genre is more difficult to master and there is less room for hi-tech gimmickry. Also while seemingly childish and selfish, she expresses herself not like a baby doll but as who actually she is; someone whose life doesn´t go the way it should. I hope she will overcome these problems.

Barba, I am curious what your age is. Did you reach this conclusion after speaking to a few hippies? Meanwhile, how come you drew the conclusion that I was talking about flower boys?

It is evident that we are talking about a subject about which you know just about nothing.

Though I am not a 70´s guy myself, I have lived through the transition from one generation into another. Amy Whinehouse is a product of this society. She is not even a proper hippy. You probably associate her with the 70´s because she sounds a bit more intellectual than Britney Spears. Why don´t you realize that in addition to the junkies, there is a whole generation of 70´s musicians who set the standards for others. Ever heard Miles Davis or Leonard Cohen? Pink Floyd had their most productive period in the 70´s. 

Ultimately, we could talk about the presence of  Eurepean and American literatures, artists etc. Almost all the great names were already great back in the 70´s.

Let´s make a comparison between 1979 and the present time. I think from an intellectual point of view, the 70´s generation was a lot more restless, prolific and diversified. These points were reflected in the books they read, the wealth of social activities they got involved in and the social reaction they displayed. With all these in mind, we can say they were more complicated beings who were looking to achieve things beyond normal. Equality, freaternity and respect were among the those targets. They were in friction with the authority who saw nothing wrong with checking those ladies´ virginity.

Time has passed, technology has advanced, new generations revolutionized the technological aspects of our civilization. However, since the spirit of the 70´s was tactfully eradicated, all those advancements have served the powers that be making them stronger and omnipresent. Like silkworms, they weaved their coccoons practically imprisoning  themselves devoid of a chance to revolutionize the regimes and mentalities that enslave people.

Well, well, well, I tried my best to like the winning song but it was a no go. Azeris are related to Turks or maybe they are even more Turkish than we are but the song they came up with hardly represents their culture. They sound like an amateur band from say Sweden or Ukraine.

There were subtle references to the last year´s Azeri entry which was a better song rendered by a better singer. Though they share the same teenager theme, it was a more listenable song.

It is impossible to explain the lack of quality in this multimillion dollar organization when the streets of all major cities are full of cool musicians...

Remembering my younger days, I would say, it is just a myth that foreign girls are easy to get. In fact, they are as aloof as domestic girls. Many generalizations can be made about how they prefer strong, rich and charismatic men and how they look down on others but I would just stand with my initial verdict, women are almost the same everywhere and I don´t like how they are raised in their families. True there are many women who are special but the number is nowhere enough. 

In fact, I have run into very few ideal women in this life and one of them happens to be my wife now.

As a matter of fact, no one can represent the Islam especially in today´s world. It is just a belief. If you say: "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." You are a Muslim. You could be a disco kid, a prostitute, a sinner or God knows what, but you are still a Muslim.

Look at the lives of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Osama Bin Laden. They are both Muslims. Neither of them represents Islam. They just stand for their own causes. In fact, despite the ethnic flavour, both Muhammad Ali and Jabbar are more American than anything else in their general outlooks.

Remember both Hitler and Mussolini were great Christians. There are many renowned terrorists and dictators among Christians. Ever heard anyone seriously questioning whether they represented Christianity.

and despite all that thinking, everything turns ... you know what.

We don´t expect customs officers to be polite and considerate do we? They are just too preoccupied with mind reading, judgeing by the looks and stuff like that. Smallest possible suspicion is enough to send a person thousands of miles back home.

Most Turks don´t have a minute to think.

Self-criticism is not easy. You are bound to come with lots of "buts" and "howevers". We know Holland is not completely xenophobic nor does it set an example to racial tolerance.

Let´s remember Pippa´s story. She was the woman who was murdered in Turkey in a wedding gown. Her point was proving that people are essentially good. There is a risk in making such assumptions. The Turk who raped and killed her does not represent the average Turk either. Still, he is a product of this society. He is the bad face of this society The only way to get any improvement would be understanding and isolating the conditions that made that crime possible.

Pippa made a wrong assumption affecting the assumptions to be made by millions of others about Turkish society. Let´s stop making these void assumptions. You can´t turn a donkey into a zebra just by painting stripes on it. We know Holland is not all good, nor is it all bad.

Can´t we just try to iron out the rough spots rather than advocating our countries.