YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett

I forget just where I was screwing off on the Internet to find this little gem but it's screaminly funny. Doubless some of the Balkanci around have heard of the little English book called 'Molvania (the land that modern dentistry forgot)

OK it's not funny the way the 'numa numa dance' is, but it's got terrible keyboards, cheesy costumes really horrific light effects, scary hair and totally juvenile crude double entendre lines! what's not to like!

LONDON: Prince Harry has decided to be a frontline soldier in the tough Welsh Guards.

His first Army posting would be leading 30 squadies on a tense peacekeeping mission in war-torn Bosnia.

The 21-year-old prince could be shot at from rival ethnic groups during the six-month NATO mission.*

"Harry sees a tough infantry unit as the best way to prove himself. It is about the most dangerous place you can be in the Army," a senior military source was quoted by the Sun, as saying.

But Harry is determined to dump his initial choice for a regiment - the scandal-ridden Household Cavalry.

"I've got hooked on the infantry bug," he recently said. "I do enjoy running down a ditch full of mud, firing bullets," he added.

* actual odds af actually being shot at wouldbe higher in my gulag on a Friday or Saturday night. let's not overdramatize ourselves here!

Was just listening to that twit Paul Harvey and he said, that practiceing Muslims now outnumber Evangelical Christians in France, and that British Evangelical churches now send most of their missionaries to France.
Most interesting. I notice that right wing commentators generally seem very concerned about this sort of thing, but not too concerned about proper practice of their own religions.

I wonder what that Rush Limbaugh, and Mike Savage and Paul Harvey think about this?

sorry for haveing to post the original matierial, but Blogger isn't working right with the links AGAIN!

PODGORICA -- Wednesday – Hundreds of cases of ammunition and weapons produced by the Serbian Zastava factory in Kragujevac are being flown each week from Podgorica to Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, Podgorica daily Dan claims.

According to the report the consignments include Kalashnikov assault rifles, hand grenades and ammunition.

All are loaded into Russian Tupolev aircraft at Podgorica’s Golubovci airport after being shipped from the central Serbian state-owned factory to Montenegro in trucks with licence plates from the Serbian city of Cacak.

Montenegrin police secure a hundred-metre perimeter around the aircraft during the loading operations, writes Dan.

The daily quotes unofficial sources as saying that the weapons are delivered to Montenegro from army barracks in Serbia and the entire deal is handled by Montenegro’s Jugoimport Media Mont company, which is the name listed on the customs export declarations.

Sources close to the Defence Ministry say that, after the recent army procurements scandal, the Serbian Finance Ministry has begun checking all weapons deals including this one.

Jugoimport Mont director Zoran Damjanovic confirmed for Dan that the company is involved in arms sales via Podgorica airport and said that he has all the necessary documentation for what he described as a legal deal.

“The goods are being sold by the state and the state is behind the entire deal, so there is no doubt about that. We signed a contract with the Serbia-Montenegro Defence Ministry after we were successful in public bidding. These are business deals between countries. One country is dealing with another and Jugoimport Mont is an intermediary,” Dan quotes Damjanovic as saying.

He added that the state was selling surplus weapons which had been stockpiled in barracks but declined to say where the arms were headed.

Oil refineries are not fewer due to environmentalists, it's the oil companies. This document proves it. I am tired to death of hearing them blame the environmentalists, the environmentalists don't have that much power.

While environmentalists did affect production, there have been mergers and mega-mergers in the oil industry, that is far more crucial to the whole process.

This chapter in particular is worth a read.

Recent Structural Changes in U.S. Refining: Joint Ventures, Mergers, and Mega-Mergers

This collapsed building is not the result of warfare, or earthquake, but of flooding and high waves.

Politics: 23 September 2005, Friday.

Citizens of the Bulgarian municipality of Shabla were forced to leave their homes after waves, with a height ranging from two to four meters, hit the area late on Thursday.

A state of emergency was declared in the region, which saw pouring rain of more than 230 liters per square meter overnight.

The water level near the village of Vaklino has been hovering around warning levels for more than two hours already, its swell fed by the rains in neighboring Romania, Shabla mayor told a local radio Friday morning.

The battering waves were breaking over bridges, cars, houses and arable land. No casualties were reported.

The town of Shabla is located 80 kilometers north of the Black Sea capital of the country Varna and just five kilometers from the cape of the same name on the sea coast.

A state of emergency is still in force in the municipalities of Elin Pelin and Svoge in the district of Sofia, the town of Velingrad, district of Pazardzhik, Stambolijski, district of Plovdiv and the regions of Kremikovtsi and Novi Iskar.

Follow the link for a very interesting story on NPR about two quilts in the Yakima Valley Museum. I have seen the Swastika quilt and I wondered about it, but read the label.
The other quilt I frankly never noticed before. It's got kind of a creepy story.

I over all like Blogger, I shouldn't complain, hey it's free right? Well sometimes for DAYS the linkage feature just doesn't work, I had a total of five hours of extreme frustration because of that. Then too sometimes it's a pain getting at the links in other people's blogs. I hate that kind of malfunction.
Getting in touch with someone who knows how to fix it is also impossible.
Highly annoying. it rubs salt into the wound.
The linkage thing is such a bitch, for those who I'd like to link to that is why I haven't linked to you because I don't have the next century to work with that function. I'm rather near sighted so messing with it is more of a problem even than for other people.

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=120764&cat=World

On the one hand, this cleric thinks Muslims generally need to get out of Europe, on the other hand, he says and I quote, 'An Islamic flag will fly over 10 Downing Street' ok.... I'm very confused now.

Remember Lyndie England? She was convicted of abuseing detainees in Iraq. Some of the defense was that she was easily manipulate, NOT a characteristic desireable in a soldier, male or female! I'll have more to say about this later, too tired. zao mije.

Now it seems that if this is 'murica, the cops would show up, investigate the 'incident', relieve all affected parties of weapons (including the mercenaries involved), call ambulances to save lives, write up reports, jail offenders, etc. Instead, according to what is being related, the authorities show up, say 'what up G', G says 'nothing to see here officer, move along' and Officer says 'Oh well, that's good enough for me that you're shooting up whoever on U.S. soil with fully automatic weapons, which are in fact outlawed for use by civilians (which military contractors/former military *are*) and Deputy Dawg hops back into his cruiser and moseys along to the nearest donut shop. This is supposed to be the United States, Not Fucking Bosnia... Remember, this is supposed to be the government caring for it's citizens, not corporate employees gunning down whomever whenever with the full knowledge and expectation that they will walk away from all this with no consequences whatsoever.
We are supposed to be americans governed by an american government, not the supplicants of a corporation that has no more interest in our personal well being than a middle-ages lord does for his serfs.
posted by mk1gti at 6:49 PM PST on September 24

This is supposed to be the United States, Not Fucking Bosnia...

umm some of this shit didn't even happen in BiH! I am more and more against the use of 'military contractors' in any situation. It's bad enough people hire private security and private investigators. I don't care for the fact these contractors are paid ten times what a proper soldier is paid either. I have a good bit of respect for the regular army, I know a lot of folks out there think I'm your basic bleeding heart liberal but there's things that the Army is good for, and I respect soldiers. I have met very few of them I didn't like as people.
The thing is that it's harder, far harder even in an un-free society to get away with misuseing a proper army, but military contractor is an Orwellian 'newspeak' it should really be 'mercenary' That is the job.
Oh one article had one of these 'military contractors' say 'New Orleans, cool! What country is that in?' jebiga! excuse me while I puke!
I have had some problems with the links thingie here on Blogger, it's got me very angry, I had a long post on the demonstrations against the war here in our humble gulag, and the hurricanes and floods and some of the disgusting aftermath of these events, but links that illustrate my points could not be put in and I have saved the draft for until Blogger removes it's head from it's rectum. I don't know what it is, I put links in a post just a bit earlier today no problem.
baaah got homework bilokako later prijatelji!

The time of the fair seems an unusual time for anyone here to have a demonstration against the war in Iraq, but there was a seris of small demonstrations, mostly placed on bus routs, so that fair goers who used the shuttle service could get to the fair would see them. It was the usual crowd, the morning one which I didn't go to was 30 people. Positive response was greater than negative response, yes we got some one fingered salutes and one fat old guy hollered 'Support the troops!' at us repeatedly' A couple of us hollered back 'ENLIST ALREADY!" He was a man who maybe wasn't that fat for this gulag, it seems there is a high level of obesity here, but he would have been in serious trouble after five m ilitary pushups, and five flutter kicks! They might have to get out the AED if he tried that!
Why is it always the fat slobs who are so damn warlike? jebiga bilokako!
I think even here, the people are starting to realize that the war is a mistake, and we should get out as soon as possible.
it's tiresome how the right wing talk shows like to go on and on about the necessity of this war. I have several friends who are right wing. Some of thenm are like that because their parents were Democrats and they must have continued on with their adolescent rebellion. Some just refuse to see that the war was not on the correct basis. Things are not at all as advertized. I'm not saying that certain among the troops haven't done good things. I'm not saying our guys there are all torturers but once in awhile I see something cringeworthy like this,

http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us0905/index.htm

or this,

or how about this?
We had a strange and shaggy dude come up with a very expensive camera. It looked too expensive for someone like him to own. He seemed bent on getting film of our demo. I didn't care for this, and he aroused the suspicions of others present. I remained calm, it's not the first time I've been filmed at a demo, and I doubt very much it's going to be the last time either. I'm getting really sick of reading accounts of things like




because it makes me think of guys like Milosevic, and I don't want my country to be like that. Listen, at least with the Serbs, at one time they were fighting invaders on their soil. The Ottoman Empire, which was in their country. They did not invade the Ottoman Empire, they did not try to take over Turkey, they simply tried to get the Ottoman Empire out of their country. There is justification for that. It of course got different later when the fight was against fellow Slavs of the Muslim faith. That got to be a whole 'nother thing as we say here in 'Merika, but at the begining, and for a long time it could be classed as an heroic struggle. I can respect that. I can dig it, and not only that, some of my ancestors were involved in the same fight, but it is different to in the name of fighting terror to seek weak excuses to go into another country and bomb the crap out of them, not just lately but really for a period of years.
The fact is that Muslims should just stay out of the West in general, except for those places they've been a long time like Bosnia-Hercegovina, or Chechnya or a few other such places,

and Chistians should stay out of the Middle East except for places they have always been like Israel-Palestine, Syria, Iraq and other places where there is a long standing presence.

It makes sense to simply leave that part of the world alone and they leave our part of the world alone. Too few people from either side know how to cross that bridge and not cause chaos. I like to think I'm one of those people who can cross the bridge, but I'm a very unusual person. Most people don't have the necessary education on either side. They shouldn't have to! Most people really have enought to do just to live their lives. War is no contribution to just liveing life!
Has terrorism really stopped? Have gas prices gone down? NO and I can tell you women are NOT better off in Iraq or Afghanistan than before our invasions. In fact they may be worse off.
Look in most societies women are not all that well off, even in the West. Women do have a lot of responsibility and have to do things like raise children and keep a household going. Men don't always help. The only thing that makes men and women get along in life is love. Love can soften many blows in life, but when life is disrupted continually by war and disaster,(and it seems war and disaster do go together most of the time)then it's not possible to have a normal family life where there will be love. IT's kind of a vicious cycle. Generation after generation of men go to war, to come home, make the lives of their families difficult because they have problems due to haveing been at war. Then their sons follow them into the same thing and the women and children suffer. That is universal. It's a lot worse when you are the ones that got invaded.
I do believe people have the right to defend themselves when invaded on their own soil, but the bombing of both Afghanistan and Iraq might be compared to say dureing the 1980s and 1970s the IRA commited various acts of terror in Ebgland, and even an attack on a British base in Germany, the British response was NOT to bomb the Republic of Ireland! The British tried to work with the Republic of Ireland to control the problem and hopefully solve it. I'm not saying that in those times the British didnt' do some very brutal things, includeing torture, but they did realize there were lines they should not cross in dealing with the rest of the world. A lot of Americans contributed to the IRA, Some Americans even joined it! Did the British bomb us? NO, they tried to get their side of the story out and to discourage support. I think the U.S. could learn something here!

Just a note here, I am really sick to death of how hard it is to link stuff in Blogger! I have been at this over an hour, and want to kill someone now! jebiga!
I also am really sick of how their FAQs don't really tell how to do anything! they should all really get their damn act together like NOW. It would NOT kill them to get their act together so that posting would get easier. I did the same thing, linked some stuff just an hour or two ago, didn't do anything different either. This happens too much in my online life and I hate that.

just to make them available until i can make this thing work here they are. I really would rather not have to fight with this every time I turn around.

rom Metafilter

Blogger totally fucked with me on the following linx
www.nytimes.com/2005/09/24/politics/24abuse.html?ei=5090&en=e5b2cfd4ee611c93&ex=1285214400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

hrw.org/reports/2005/us0905/index.htmhttp://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/scahillhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/

I'll try to hyperlink the lot later, sometimes these things happen one day and not the next. sorry please blame blogger. If someone knows how to get their attention when something isn't working please let me know, I've tried in the past with no results.

The situation started gradually to get back to normal after the fourth flood for this year. There is no drinking water in the town of Shabla, the sewerage system in the town has been destroyed, the people who remained homeless were put in several clubs. Some 200 people remained homeless from the village of Dalgo Pole. There are 200 flooded houses in Stambolovo and some of them could collapse any minute. There are also 200 flooded houses in the villages around the town of Lovech.
There are also 648 flooded houses in Veliko Tarnovo region. The most of the flooded houses are in the municipalities of Veliko Tarnovo, Pavlikeni and Zlatarica.
There is a crisis situation announced in the municipalities of elin Pelin and Svoge in Sofia region, in Velingrad, Pazardjik region, in Stamboliiski, Plovdiv region and in the regions of Kremikovtzi and Novi Iskar in Sofia region.
The last floods also caused landslides and destroyed roads, agricultural lands have again been flooded.



http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=75&newsid=73035&ch=0&datte=2005-09-25

IF you want the original you have to go there quickly as the FEN service tends to take stuff down quickly, but they have had serious flooding in Bulgaria, Romania and other Balkans nations pretty much since July. In some areas the water has been made un-drinkable. They a lot of snow in the winter, so flooding wasn't exactly unforeseeable. It's very hard on the governments of these small countries when that hapens.

You_mean_it's_ok
Originally uploaded by Yakima_gulag.

My grandkids being given permission to make a serious amount of noise, at first the idea totally puzzled them then they totally got into it, this thing was so loud I think it could have been used to drown out the bass on some of those damn loud cars that go by at times.

My little grand daughter made this cake, with a little help from her mom




My daughter made this cake.

My friend G.R. sent me this in an e-mail that he was forwarded.

President Bush was asked today for his position regarding Roe versus Wade.

His response: "I don't care how people get out of New Orleans."

Random triviality but kind of cute:
My son works for a major company as a dispatcher. He loves his job and they love how he does it.
Yesterday he had to call to confirm delivery of services to a customer, and the customer answered the phone with a heavily accented "NO ENGLISH!"

Because I have spent time in the Balkans and because of my guy being a Bosnian Croat guy who doesn't speak much English, my son has a fair ear for when people may come from someplace in the Balkans.

Besides the name inded in was Somethingorother ovic, so he called the company's translator service, and they first said 'We'll try the Russian guy' The Russian guy got the same response but of course could discern from accent and name 'Very probably this lady is a Serbian lady' and he got a Serbian translator and they were able to set a time when an English speaking member of the family would be in to answer questions from the repair person.

In our gulag there are going to be some anti-war demonstrations. I will be going to one of them. There is no point shopping as the places we most need to shop are going to be difficult to shop in because they are also fair shuttl service parking areas. I don't need the agro, my son doesn't need the agro so homework becons! Back later to post fair pictures.

http://www.catteacorner.com/dragosteadintei.htm there is a good accurate Romanian translation here!

This song has been floating around the Internet for some time, almost a year, in this version. I love it, the little video is done by an American guy, and he just lets go and does it and it's really cute.
This was in Radmila's site, in an account of Christmas a year ago with her family. It turns out that my son, and his internet girlfriend love this song and it's the only thing from the Balkans other than baklava that my son has much use for!

Tomorrow I should have some pictures for your edification of the fair in our humble gulag. I had a very good time. I was supposed to have met friends, but they didn't show, meaning I needed to call my daughter and son-in-law to bum a ride.

It used to be there was shuttle bus service each night of the fair, now that's only on weekends! :( That is going to make me cut back on my fair going for sure!
I went with my daughter and the grand-babies, we missed witnessing the birth of a tiny little Holstein calf by mere moments.

We looked at goats, pigs, Logan loved the little pigs, and petted one sleepy pig on the ear, he love animals. I have noticed that he shares my interest even in insects. I entertained him really well once by showing them the fine art of watching ants. Keirna isn't as interested in insects, but she loves horses, dogs, cats and cows.

I went to see Williams and Ree, the Indian and the White Guy, they are so funny and have a fan base in the Gulag. They were very funny, I wanted to meet them and shake their hands. the line was so damn long and I needed to get home. So I just bought the CD, hey $10 and you need laughs in this life

They took no prisoners and made fun of everyone and everything that I detest right at this moment. OK they skewered a few of my sacred cows but that's fine, they barbequed them really really well!

Molly Yard's death was not noted in any of the usual places such passings are noted. I have to thank Mario's Cyberspace Station again.
I don't know what I'd do without him.

Thanks MetaFilter! The New Yorker had a really interesting article on when Federal troops and Federalization of troops and police can and cannot happen and what exactly were the precedents on this issue. I really find peoples brainwashedness locally on this subject tiresome and annoying.
Of course this brainwashed willful ignorance is fed by the daily doeses of propaganda ooops broadcasts dished out on local talk radio.
They as a matter of course twist American history to their own ends, and never suffer the consequences.

I'm putting this here in the interest of preserveing it in some form. Some of it should be updated. I realize I haven't done an Orange Revolution Update in AGES and a lot has happened, for example the fiesty Yulya Timoshenko got sacked along with the rest of the Orange Revolutionaries other than Yushenko.



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***Takeing the Culture War straight to the enemy***


It's SPRING so I had to get rid of the cool picture of the 'Black Beauty' in the Snow and put in something more appropriate to the season! :) The tractor of course! I like that this one MOVES, that is SOOOOO COOOOL!

********************************************
World leaders are together at grand military parade on Red Square

14:40 2005-05-09
President Bush and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin put on their own show of bonhomie at Monday's grand military parade on Red Square, hiding political strains as they smiled and chatted like old friends.

The body language between Bush and Putin was clearly warm. When Bush and his wife, Laura, were met at Red Square by Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, the two leaders made a show of lowering their umbrellas for photographers.

This was just after Putin gave a much more restrained greeting to Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, whose face is scarred by dioxin poisoning he blames on political enemies.

Putin's very public support for Yushchenko's opponent in elections late last year was widely seen as a public relations disaster for the Kremlin, particularly from the West.

*******************************************************************************

Orange Revolution Update

20:01 2001-04-27
Viktor Yushchenko To Act As Premier

Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian premier whom the parliament forced to resign Thursday, will be performing functions of acting head of government, the Novosti news agency quoted press secretary Alexander Martynenko of the Ukrainian president as saying.
Late on Friday, President Leonid Kuchma accepted the resignation of the Viktor Yushchenko cabinet. According to the press secretary, the head of state has instructed the cabinet to continue performing their duties until a new cabinet is formed.
Under the Ukrainian constitution, a new cabinet is to be formed within 60 days.

Visit www.rian.ru for RIA 'Novosti' news.

So here was our president in Red Square. I feel very wierd now.





Well I gotta wonder about kids these days...



It is School Spirit Week at the Yakima Gulag People's Institution of Higher Re: Education. Guess how many people actually dressed up as aliens from other planets or zombies? 2 space aliens, (your friendly editor dressed as Princess Amidala from Star Wars, and a former Galaxy staffer Rachel Moffit dressed as an alien frome another planet.) One guy did get T.P. to look like a mummy in front of everyone, there was a cooler of sodas and a box of bags of crisps, so I got some of that. This was not well organized, and it was sad to see a WHOLE SHCOOL full of people being normal. Of course, it's possible they decided NOT to reveal that in fact they were from other planets. Rachel and I sat in the Hopeless Union Building awhile between classes, and people were pretending they didn't see us. I wanted to neuralize them!, I mean REALLY!
I could understand if everyone had a job, and had to look proffessional or something, but that is not the case, very few have even part time jobs.
No the problem is no one is paying attention, and no one has a sense of fun, even the Student Council people who thought this up didn't dress up. That is so sad.

Orange Revolution Comment From Mike: You know I kind of wondered bout Mr. Yushenko's hands.... but it seemed too easy...

there is a story about the Hodza Nasrudin which applies to this situation. Nasrudin like a lot of men right where he lived used to cross the border frequently leading a train of donkeys. The donkeys were always laden with straw, and the customs man never failed to search the donkeys and the Hodza himself at every crossing.
The Hodza was always patient with this. One day since he was getting older the Hodza Nasrudin decided to make one last crossing, and went to the customs post with his train of well laden donkeys. He spoke with the customs man and said 'Oh this is my last crossing, I am getting too old for all this travel now.' the customs man said 'well it has been nice seeing you, I'll miss you'. Nasrudin crossed and came back. The customs man on his return said 'Well, now that you are retireing, it's safe to tell me what you have been smuggleing all these years, I promise you, of all the smugglers on this frontier you are the most devious, and I am dying to know what it was you smuggled so many years under all that straw...' Nasrudin said 'I am glad you asked I was smuggleing .....'

OK fellow students, you have to fill in the blank, send an e-mail to samizdat.katja@gmail.com The usual rules about I get to know your real name, and you need to choose a good fake name apply. . .












Umro Papa Ivo Pavo II Pope John Paul II has died, he died at 9:37 Rome time, it was announced on HRT, which is the Croatian state television I had that on all night. There were many documentaries about the Pope. He was a particular friend of Croatia. I feel very sad about his passing, as all must at this time.




Hvala Bog! KISA! We got RAIN, two days worth of rain and the grass is looking a little greener as a result. It is not enough but it IS a nice start. There is a snow alert in the mountains too and that is a good thing.

Big Dust Storm in Gulag!: Roads had to be closed all over the Gulag due to a serious dust storm. It was caused by a combination of volcanic ash and blowing dust from newly ploughed wheat fields. The Tribal Police on the rez basically told everyone west of Lateral A to please 1. don't go out, 2. if you'd already done that for some reason please pull off to the shoulder and wait out the storm. I can hear wind all around the house, and you can see dust in the air, it blew a branch out of my tree. Later when the wind dies down I shall have to go move the fallen branches. It's very dark from it and it smells dusty in the house. I'm glad I did all the most important washing a couple days ago. It's nasty and I don't want to go anywhere, and I'm glad I didn't and don't have to.
Laura L♥VE Concert at the People's Gulag Museum in Potemkin Village Yakima Gulag

This concert was just RIGHT ON! and exactly what us Zeks Needed to feel better! OK a couple Bush loyalists booed her song 'I Want You Gone!' but she handled it well. She simply said 'Hey I heard a couple of you boooing but know what you got 8 years you can handle 45 minutes!' and smiled. She boogied and her band boogied and rocked. They made a lot of jokes having to do with color because Laura Love herself is a mixed race person, and her band is about as white as they get. I really liked the jokes. There was the Booty Song too, that was funny. Especially the Surf Music bit. (usput, I wonder how many people realize that the true inventers of Surf Music are the Armenians? A people who lived originally VERY far away from beaches and the surf) Anyway, the other stuff was Apalachian. She did a cool bit with her own song, called 'You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes' She did a good story of how that song originated, and how she felt like renting a Hummer and a loudspeaker and driving to the houses of her childhood tormenters, named by the way... and saying 'You ain't got no book deal!' I liked it. I think lots of people have been there. The drumer was excellent, and the guitarist just blew me away. I liked Ms. Todd too, and her jokes about Swedes.
They got kids up to yodel too. Loved it, she can come back anytime. It was good to see Dan too, and his new dog. His dogs always like me. He's blind so his dogs are on the job and I can't like go pet them, it's kind of not done. So I looked at the dog in a way to let him know that under other circumstances I'd pet him.
Anyway all around a good concert.
Incidentally, Laura Love took some strange effort at satire on Kapitalist Idiot Transmitter. There was an interview of her on Dan's show and she said what she thinks of our Vodja BezBojan. Anyway, ever eager to curry favor with, Vodja Bezbojan, they tried by playing clips of this interview and playing a sample of a best forgotten 70s? song 'Lady Don't Hurt Me!' to make fun of her. Since the joke was too abstruse, none of us 'garlic eatting, treehugging, in your face liberals' GOT the joke. It sounded ridiculous.

Which reminds me, yet another reason I'm grateful to Mr. Bill besides the fact of teaching Applied Mathematics so entertainingly and effectively, he keeps me from hearing the noonday broadcast of propaganda, oh did I say THAT? umm I mean NEWS and I missed that one. I realize that they can't handle anything to the left of Rush Limbaugh but damn!
Anyway a lot of zeks went home with happy ears.That's what matters.
OK HUGE ORANGE REVOLUTION UPDATE: Those of you who have been listening to NPR, Science Correspondant Dave Kestenbaum reported that a couuple of American doctors have been helping treat Yushenko for the dioxin poisoning. According to the report, they went secretly to see him in Ukraine during his campaign for the presidency of Ukraine.
The more I think about him, the way that the Kremlin and the way that Yushenko's opponants conducted themselves guarenteed Yushenko's vicory. It was so heavy handed that even if Yushenko had nothing to offer, well he still would have won because the interference and bad conduct was so severe no people that was not hopelessly slavish and supine could have tolerated it. Ukrainian people are many things but supine and slavish are NOT on the list of their national characteristics!
Those interested in further information should go to npr.org and click on Morning Edition for March 11,2005.
OK for you Kultur vulturs, here we go, the Moonlight Room was GOOD! Go see it! it was well acted and intense and it takes GUTS to do a play in the Black Box because the audience is VERY close to the actors. The theme was modern and the acting and use of the situation was clever, very clever. I think it's great there are plays to go to anyway, and when they are good and well acted, it's all the more reason to go. You know you need to see more plays! c'mon you know you want to!

I am really annoyed that I can't make the linx work from here. Go to blogspot and see my other blog, YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett, be forwarned, it is the Not Safe For Work version of this site. Here we just tweak things a little, in a nice way, that sight really yanks the lion's tail sometimes. just so you know.
For report on the Figuratively Speaking Auction Please click on Kultur link. Thank you


OK Narodi! This is it, I have supplied a good picture of Mr. Yushenko and given everyone time to figure it out, and no one has actually contacted samizdat about this so now since you guys are either ...
1. not very observant
2. not coming here
3. too lazy to send in a comment

HERE IT IS JUST FOR YOU! look at the face, then look at the hands.
There is a difference. Does Mr. Yushenko not have the most beautiful hands for a man?
Dioxin should have hit the whole body. ANYTHING that was wrong with him should have affected as well his hands.


for your convenience you don't even have to scroll how's that for service eej?
OK I am going to give it three more days, if no one responds to say if they observed anything unusual about Mr Yushenko, I will reveal my personal observations. I just want to see who is *Paying Attention* razumjes? dobra!




OK U SKWAREZ! no one has contacted the paper to mention the interesting observation about Mr. Yushenko's photograph which appears on this page. I'm really annoyed with you skwarez not contributeing. I know you read this, so what is the problem?

OK the Poetry Slam was alright, here is from the other site maintained by samizdat.

YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Poetry Slam and the Editor's Birthday
Well the Poetry Slam was very well attended both in terms of audience numbera AND performers. Most read really good work. About three people were not ready for prime time in my opinion but got into the top ten.
I liked the poems of the people who won. The Winner was a Ms. Vanessa Alvisio of Toppenish gulag. She can rhym on the fly and that is really good if you can do it well, further she can in two languages, Spanish her first language and English. She is a very cute lady too, and I liked how real she was about her life!
runner up Wendy Warren read, behind the exterior of a mild mannered reporter lurks a WILDWOMAN! I had no idea her sex life was so interesting!
the other runner up, Mark Burns had some very clever work, and it was enjoyable.
I would have liked to at least be in the Top Ten, but know what? at least I like who won, and had a nice evening out.

A few people read very good stuff, Kim Roberts, Linda Brown,her poem about the socks was cool. and Randy Gottlieb read wonderful stuff, same goes for the always worth reading and hearing Keely Murphy.

The Black Box was mobbed! people were sitting on the floor.

Here are my suggestions for improvements of the experience....
1. Could the Judges picked at random please be given the rules in front of all of us?
2. They can then go to the room where they deliberate, and be given a time-limit.

I think these minor changes would be improvements to the event.
The other thing is a venue like the new Chartwells location would be nice since there are numerous comfy chairs. Perhaps this would make it possible to have coffee and snacks available. That last is just a thought. The event is growing which should please poetry lovers everywhere in our Gulag.

yak1
communal yak farm yakima gulag
Perhaps more open reading situations such as other slams would be a good thing too. In easily accesable locations, would be a nice thing. There are a hell of of lot of good writers stranded in this gulag for one reason or another.









BREAKING NEWS!!!
***This Just In! ***
fire in an agricultural chemical warehouse in Grandview, a place which is south of our Gulag, has necessitated evacuation, both in place and by removal. 'Basically if you can smell anything you should get out' authorities say. It's still burning. They don't know what all is in there, and are afraid of making matters worse by pouring water on it. It's in the Wilbur-Ellis warehouse. This is near to at least one primary school, and lots of private homes. a portion of highway has had to be closed. not a good thing.

OK further Orange Revolution UPDATE:
Notice anything about Mr. Yushenko's hands vs his face? Just curious to see if others can see this.


Mr Yushenko definately looks very dignified, but I just want to see if anyone else notices what I have made note of. Please use 'kontakt papir' link and appraise me of your observations if indeeed you have made note of the thing which I notice.





Yulija Timoshenko, a highly interesting figure...




This is Yulija Timoshenko, she's an interesting person. Putin does not like her, neither do those wierdos at Freerepublic, interesting set of people who dislike her.
She called Yushenko's defeated oponent 'A red haired cockroach' I like her simply for creative use of invective. Not to mention she's pretty. What worries me is she's quite rich, I understand worth $11 million. Aside from that, what's not to like?
She is someone the Kremlin can't control and she's someone that can't be controlled by other interests. This is going to be damned interesting.
http://http://www.tymoshenko.com.ua/eng/questions/voiting/




copyright© Mlecni Put 2004

Website built and hosted for free at Freewebs.com - free website.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5412560&subject=companies&action=article

It looks like the major Croatian drug company is about to be aquired, Pliva has actually been pretty sucessful.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-09-21-voa74.cfm

This article not only mentions the hard work of forensic scientists in BiH, it mentions their work in the Tsunami and since Hurrican Katrina.

ZAGREB (Reuters) - A Croatian arrested for Monday's blast at the British embassy in Zagreb has told police and court he accidentally set off a hand grenade he was carrying for protection after receiving threats.

Damir Rovisan, a 28-year-old embassy employee, was arraigned before a Zagreb county court on Wednesday and told the investigative judge, who will decide whether to indict him or not, the hand grenade went off because he mishandled it.

Prosecutors accuse Rovisan of jeopardising life and property and illegal possession of explosives. The state news agency Hina, which reported his court appearance, gave few other details.

A summary of Rovisan's earlier police testimony was published in Globus weekly on Wednesday. A police official confirmed to Reuters the report corresponded to his statement.

"I've been carrying the hand grenade with me every day since September 2, 2005, to protect myself and members of my family," Rovisan told the police, according to the weekly.

He said that on that day, he had received a threatening phone call from a member of a Zagreb criminal gang he was soon to testify against.

Rovisan, who has worked at the embassy for four years, said he was trying to secure the grenade's loose safety pin with a piece of string that had been wrapped around morning newspapers.

"I tightened it too much and the pin fell out so I threw the grenade and the papers away from me," he said.

Globus said Rovisan often did not have to go through metal detectors and other security checks at the embassy's gate.

He received light injuries to his lower leg in the blast in the embassy's mailroom and was briefly treated in hospital, where police arrested him after an urgent investigation.

Rovisan was sentenced to 16 months in prison earlier this year for armed robbery, but failed to show up in September to start serving his sentence.

The police said on Wednesday the embassy had not asked the Croatian authorities for a security clearance before employing Rovisan. The embassy declined comment.

Monday's blast was the first serious security threat to Western embassies in Zagreb since the former Yugoslav republic, which hopes to start European Union membership talks by the end of this year, gained independence in 1991.


© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

9 September 2005
EXCLUSIVE: UP IN FLAMES
Tons of British aid donated to help Hurricane Katrina victims to be BURNED by Americans
From Ryan Parry, US Correspondent in New York

HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.

Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

Katrina crisis victim

NEEDY: Evacuees from New Orleans

Advertisement
Falk AdSolution

And unless the bureaucratic mess is cleared up soon it could be sent for incineration.

One British aid worker last night called the move "sickening senselessness" and said furious colleagues were "spitting blood".

The food, which cost British taxpayers millions, is sitting idle in a huge warehouse after the Food and Drug Agency recalled it when it had already left to be distributed.

Scores of lorries headed back to a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, to dump it at an FDA incineration plant.

The Ministry of Defence in London said last night that 400,000 operational ration packs had been shipped to the US.

But officials blamed the US Department of Agriculture, which impounded the shipment under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

The aid worker, who would not be named, said: "This is the most appalling act of sickening senselessness while people starve.

"The FDA has recalled aid from Britain because it has been condemned as unfit for human consumption, despite the fact that these are Nato approved rations of exactly the same type fed to British soldiers in Iraq.

"Under Nato, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness."

Child suvivor of Katrina

PAIN: Child survivor cries

The worker added: "There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.

"Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from Unicef are walking around spitting blood.

"This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

"It is perfectly good Nato approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed.

"If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years."

The Ministry of Defence said: "We understand there was a glitch and these packs have been impounded by the US Department of Agriculture under regulations relating to the import and export of meat.

"The situation is changing all the time and at our last meeting on Friday we were told progress was being made in relation to the release of these packs. The Americans certainly haven't indicated to us that there are any more problems and they haven't asked us to take them back."

Food from Spain and Italy is also being held because it fails to meet US standards and has been judged unfit for human consumption.

And Israeli relief agencies are furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit.

The FDA said: "We did inspect some MREs (meals ready to eat) on September 13. They are the only MREs we looked at. There were 70 huge pallets of vegetarian MREs.

"They were from a foreign nation. We inspected them and then released them for distribution."

Voice of the Mirror: Page 6

This is disgusting! I mean damn if some third world country pulled this on us we'd be all kinds of pissed off!
You know if things happen and you need help you can't afford to be all snotty about it!

UK embassy staff member responsible for blast -- Croatian interior minister
MIL-CROATIA-UK-EMBASSY
UK embassy staff member responsible for blast -- Croatian interior minister

SARAJEVO, Sept 20 (KUNA) -- Croatian Interior Minister, Ivica Kirin, said on Tuesday a member of the British Embassy staff in Zagreb was responsible for a blast that took place earlier this week.

In remarks to the press, Kirin denied any international terror suspicions to the explosion.

The Croatian TV has aired a news conference by Kirin, who said that 28-year-old Damir Rovisan, a local embassy employee, has put a small explosive at the embassy's mail parcel. Rovisan was the only person injured in the blast, and has been arrested and confessed to the crime, according to the minitser. Kirin added that Rovisan had this year been issued a 16-month imprisonment sentence for criminal activities.

The motive behind this crime is being investigated, he added. (end) yr.
ad

KUNA 202115 Sep 05NNNN

OK This wierded me out, I'm crusin' Shoutcast for some sevdalinke, or maybe some turbofolk or some Serbian Gypsy brass, and I see this station and it's like wierd, cuz it's like stuff that used to be on 'The Singing Wire' a show on Public Radio MANY MANY moons ago!

I appologize for any difficulty in hyperlinking, that's Blogger's fault for makeing it kind of wierd and klunky.
1. there has been a letter bomb attack at the British embassy in Zagreb.

http://story.irishsun.com/p.x/ct/9/id/939381bef5d07c70/cid/15665b944045da4a/

and
2. Four alleged Serbian war criminals have been arrested in Kosovo, the town of Gracinica, and there have been of course protests of these arrests.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20050919\ACQDJON200509190834DOWJONESDJONLINE000218.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na
GAH where do they GET these ungodly long extensions!? zao mije!

and in KosovaReport,

http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/09/three-us-senators-offer-draft.html

three U.S. senators have some sort of resolution on Kosovo. If Vuk Draskovic likes it then it's probably going to be unsatisfactory but who knows? I haven't seen it so I can't say.

Well that's all the news that fits until either quite late tonight or Tuesday.
Have a nice day Gentle Readers!

School starts for me tomorrow and it's going to be challengeing and wierd. I have to be out of my town one evening a week and may have to overnight there in a hotel, so bear with it those of you who are my big fans, the rest of you, take a night off! :)

Yes this is as wierd as you think it is, they came through our gulag or something very like it did, and I missed it cuz I was sick. I'm sort of allergic to cats but I like them. So I visit other people's cats and leave when that tell-tale throat tickle gets going.

These links contain articles I found on the internet about foreign aid to the U.S. because of the hurricane.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168606,00.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/31/235829/261http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601994.html

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/09/08/us_accepts_nearly_1b_in_foreign_aid/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-07-katrina-world_x.htm

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/08/news/aid.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5264038,00.html

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Many_nations_offer_material_aid_to_hurricane_victims%3B_Bush_refuses_to_accept

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050907/cm_usatoday/aforeignaidtwistusgetsothersgive

I want Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mike Savage to see that, of course they won't in the world of blogiranje I am not that high up on the food chain. I still wish they'd shut up about how the U.S. helps everyone and we don't get shit back.
That is an arrogant view and not true. The whole world is a two way street. We all have to help each other.
The U.S. has helped a lot of other countries and my experience is that when it's really been help and really had the right intention, then that help IS appreciated.
Now we are in trouble and others care, I for one am glad they do.
Even though I don't live in Louisiana, I feel as if the countries that want to help here care about me personally. It means a lot.
I do have relatives who used to live in Louisiana, and I've been there. I've been to in fact a LOT of the places that got hit.

Box Elder bugs, good view of eyes
Originally uploaded by Yakima_gulag.

The best shot so far of the box elder bugs. They were haveing a nice dinner of honey water.

ants
Originally uploaded by Yakima_gulag.

These are ants photographed at my daughter and son in law's place

Today is Mexican Independance Day, there is a lot that Americans owe to Mexican people especially now. Among the first to come to the aid of the victimes of Hurricane Katrina was the Mexican Army, which crossed into the U.S. with fresh food, cooks and mobile kitchens. They helped us in WWII, the Mexican Air Force. One of their number was a family friend when I was a kid in Guanajuato, and I had the privelege of meeting some of them at the Yakima Air Fair, good guys all of them.
I lived in Guanajuato GTO, the Cradle of Mexican Independance, the Boston of Mexico, so it was normal to go to Dolores Hidalgo for 'El Grito' and to see fireworks.
People of the Balkans love the Mexican people, they don't know much about Mexicans or Mexican culture, but they love Mexican music still. I gave Mexican friends of mine burn CDs of some of the music on Yu Mex and they loved it because they saw the respect that went into this adoption of their music.
The Balkans Mexico connection is actually pretty substantial, Croats came to Mexico with Maximillian who was a well intentioned Hapsburg. I know wierd to say that, but he was one of the few Hapsburgs who had any scrap of decency. He tried, but the problem was he wasn't Mexican and Mexican people have a BIG thing in common with us Norteamericanos, they HATE foreign rule.
Anyway I hope everyone has a good independance day!
Viva Mexico hijos de la chingada!

This is a neat link that East Ethnia posted, by way of Maniac Shop, both great blogs to check out. This is about the Croat community in Louisiana, which has to have been affected pretty badly considering their usual stomping grounds in Lousiana. I was in those regions traveling years ago.

Gentle Readers, I will have a monitor in another couple days, it's the way things go in the land of beauracracy,could have been worse, just letting you know I'm alive, just busy getting things in order. Pozdravalje da svima!

Dear Gentle Readers, still no monitor, I'm borrowing the computer of Goth Barbie's mom, do check the link, she has some cool art work.

Comments on the hurricane, I had the unique privelege of meeting the last Mexicans to help the U.S. militarily, namely 204th Squadron of the Mexican Air Force. We knew one of those gentlemen when I lived in Guanajuato as a kid. None of the guys remembered him, he must only have been ground crew. Now over 100 foreign nations are helping the U.S. in our time of need, as an American I want especially to thank Mexico, and BiH, as well as China and yes even Pakistan helped.
On the one hand I feel sad that our country has such need, in fact that make me angry, but on the other hand, I am grateful that the U.S. is loved and appreciated sincerly by so many neighbors and even nations one could say are not really allies. This is really very touching to me.

I am not a member of the 'Hate America' first crowd. In fact I love this country, and appreciate it.
It's good that other nations do to, it's good that all the bad stuff we've done in the world has not irretrievably harmed us abroad, that people can distinguish the various idiots who have ruled here, from the people who mostly mean well.
Again thank you world!

Now, Sean Hanity, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Savage, STOP dissing other countries that they don't help us in times of need.
I hear a great echoing silence on that score.

Link to Croatian aid to U.S. above

Opaka Katrina uznemirila i Dubu Pelješku
Oči stanovnika Dube uprte su miljama daleko preko oceana, u okolicu New Orleansa, gdje žive brojne kolonije Hrvata poteklih upravo iz ovog pelješkog mjesta, a ribari ovdašnjih korijena drže čak 75 posto tamošnje proizvodnje kamenica. Kuće Ive Bilića i Kuzme Petrovića nestale su pod udarima vjetra i vode, obitelji su se na vrijeme sklonile, no oni ne mogu natrag
Piše Stanislav SOLDO
Snimio Denis JERKOVIĆ
Duba Pelješka, malo misto na dalmatinskom žalu, udaljeno tek nekoliko kilometara od Trpnja, ovih dana na svoj način preživljava prirodnu katastrofu razornog uragana Katrina, koji je pogodio jug američkog kontinenta. Oči stanovnika Dube uprte su miljama daleko preko oceana, u okolicu New Orleansa, gdje žive brojne kolonije Hrvata poteklih upravo iz ovoga pelješkog mjesta. Osluškuju se vijesti s postradalih područja, nestrpljivo iščekuju pozivi rođaka i prijatelja.
U Louisiani je nastanjeno oko pet tisuća Hrvata treće i četvrte generacije, čiji su se preci doselili uglavnom s područja Pelješca. New Orleans je još početkom 19. stoljeća primio prve useljenike iz Hrvatske, bili su to mornari s dubrovačkih brodova nakon Napoleonovih ratova. U drugom valu useljavanja stigli su ribari s peljeških žala, pa su se nastavili baviti ribarstvom u delti Mississippija, gdje su, kao i u svom rodnom kraju, počeli uzgajati kamenice. Tako su niknule farme za uzgoj kamenica, a ribari peljeških korijena drže čak 75 posto tamošnje proizvodnje kamenica. Vrijedne ruke peljeških ribara desetljećima su stvarale u dalekoj Americi bogatstvo, koje je Katrina poharala u samo nekoliko minuta.
Kuzma Petrović rođen je u Dubi, a u Americi živi više od pola stoljeća, i to u gradu Empire, stotinjak kilometara južno od New Orleansa. Katrina ga je zatekla u rodnom kraju, gdje je sa suprugom provodio odmor u svojoj kući blizu mora. Ostatak obitelji ostao mu je u Americi. Kuća im je srušena, brod oštećen, materijalnu štetu mjere stotinama tisuća dolara.
— To je zaista jedna velika tragedija. Dijelovi New Orleansa se inače nalaze ispod razine mora pa su izgrađeni sustavi nasipa i obrane od poplava, ali, na žalost, velike valove ništa nije moglo zaustaviti — kazuje nam Petrović, koji je tijekom svoga pedesetogodišnjeg života u Louisiani doživio dva razorna uragana, Betsy 1965. godine i Camille četiri godine poslije.
— Unatoč obavijesti i informacijama koje se daju prije uragana, puno je ljudi nastradalo. Mislili su proći će, nisu poštovali upozorenja — pojašnjava Petrović. U razgovor se uključuje i Ivo Bilić, koji se tijekom uragana zatekao u rodnoj Dubi. Naime, želio je u rodnom kraju, koji je napustio prije 37 godina, ljetovati, a sada ne može natrag. U Americi su mu supruga i djeca. Sve su izgubili, kuća je nestala pod udarima vjetra i vode, na svu sreću, obitelj se na vrijeme sklonila. Kada se vrati, sve će morati početi iznova. I dok razgovaramo, telefon Ivi neprestano zvoni, javljaju se rodbina i prijatelji, pitaju ima li informacija iz Amerike.
Katrina i njezine posljedice u Dubi su glavna tema posljednjih dana. Pred mjesnom crkvom u nedjeljno jutro zatječemo gotovo sve današnje stanovnike, gdje su molili za svoje najmilije daleko preko oceana. Svi oni imaju nekoga od bliže ili dalje rodbine na uraganom poharanim područjima.
— Naši ljudi koji su se iselili u Ameriku uglavnom se bave ribarstvom, većinom kamenicama. Oni su među prvima koji su vadili kamenice na ušću Mississippija — ponosno pripovijedaju mještani Dube, pojašnjavajući kako najveći broj peljeških iseljenika živi južno od New Orleansa.
Ante Jurišić upravo je kazivao susjedima što je s njegovim sinom Jakovom, koji je živio u gradu Burasu na jugu Louisiane.
— Četveročlana obitelj uspjela je pred Katrinom izvući samo najnužnije, sudbina nove kuće i ribarskog broda još su neizvjesni. Ipak sva je sreća da su ostali živi — kratko je zaključio Ante.
Iako se telefonske veze s nastradalim područjima teško uspostavljaju, u Dubi doznajemo da u uraganu nitko od Hrvata podrijetlom s Pelješca nije poginuo. Materijalna šteta je velika, mnogima je imovina potpuno uništena, ali vrijedne ruke naših ljudi nadoknadit će izgubljeno, tvrde.

Još u rubrici:


SLUČAJ OPASNIH ALGI - OTVORENA NOVA FRONTA U BORBI PROTIV CAULERPI,
TVRDOKORNOG NEPRIJATELJA U MORU
Milijun kuna za Sizifov posao

ŠTO MI BI
Spomenik jači od mjedi










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© Sva prava pridržana: SLOBODNA DALMACIJA, 1999-2005.



*********************

I put it in comments earlier, but because it could be over looked easily that way I felt this article deserved it's own post. Croats have been in Louisianna since the time of the French rule there, when ships from Dalmacija supplied Napoleon's troops, and even before Napoleon. They mostly were in the oyster fishing business, and I remember eatting in a gumbo restaraunt that is famous, that was closed a couple years ago run by Croatian people, best gumbo you ever had, they'd give you a little to start with in a coffee cup,and it was so good not only did we order more gumbo, we ordered a whole meal and each dish was more delicious than the last.
I know that the Croats who lived there in the Civil War era fought on the Confederate side and were noted for bravery. I personally don't agree with the Confederate thing but I respect bravery.

On a personal note, I'm haveing some problems keeping in touch with my fiance. I really hate when a store has good phone cards for cheap and then switches to something inferior for more money. The brand they got now is too expensive, and it is twice what I paid before and they have glitches and rotten customer service. I hate that. Right now I can't be doing stuff that involves filling minutes on-line. I'm between quarters at college. I never have a lot of money lying around at the best of times the last few years.

Then my fiance had company last night so he asked me to call him again today, 7pm Sarajevo time, so I did. I was looking forward to talking with him. But NOOOOOO he didn't answer. (Just a word to the guys out there, if you are in a long distance relationship damnit write, write often, if you can't afford to call your significant other, DO NOT repeat DO NOT be out if there is a set time she calls, it really is annoying!) I ended up calling Croatia and leaveing an angry message on his machine.
It seems like every time I call him at a time HE sets because he had guests, I end up trying for weeks to get him again. Then he wonders why I'm so mad.
I realize stuff happens but he could at least keep his 'appointments' with me, instead of acting like it would kill him to do it.

again thanks MonkeyFilter!

I find this very disquieting.

September 02, 2005

Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans

By Joseph R. Chenelly
Times staff writer


NEW ORLEANS — Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force told Army Times Friday as hundreds of armed troops under his charge prepared to launch a massive citywide security mission from a staging area outside the Louisiana Superdome. “We’re going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.”

Jones said the military first needs to establish security throughout the city. Military and police officials have said there are several large areas of the city are in a full state of anarchy.

Dozens of military trucks and up-armored Humvees left the staging area just after 11 a.m. Friday, while hundreds more troops arrived at the same staging area in the city via Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters.

“We’re here to do whatever they need us to do,” Sgt. 1st Class Ron Dixon, of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 1345th Transportation Company. “We packed to stay as long as it takes.”

While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.

Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and police helicopters filled the city sky Friday morning. Most had armed soldiers manning the doors. According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy Grishamn, a spokesman for the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the vessel kept its helicopters at sea Thursday night after several military helicopters reported being shot at from the ground.

Numerous soldiers also told Army Times that they have been shot at by armed civilians in New Orleans. Spokesmen for the Joint Task Force Headquarters at the Superdome were unaware of any servicemen being wounded in the streets, although one soldier is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained during a struggle with a civilian in the dome Wednesday night.

“I never thought that at a National Guardsman I would be shot at by other Americans,” said Spc. Philip Baccus of the 527th Engineer Battalion. “And I never thought I’d have to carry a rifle when on a hurricane relief mission. This is a disgrace.”

Spc. Cliff Ferguson of the 527th Engineer Battalion pointed out that he knows there are plenty of decent people in New Orleans, but he said it is hard to stay motivated considering the circumstances.

“This is making a lot of us think about not reenlisting.” Ferguson said. “You have to think about whether it is worth risking your neck for someone who will turn around and shoot at you. We didn’t come here to fight a war. We came here to help.”

This is just amazeing, thanks MonkeyFilter!

The risk of conflict in Balkans increasing

By DAN KOBAYASHI
First published: Sunday, September 4, 2005

Six years after the conclusion of the Kosovo war and four years after the Ohrid Framework Agreement ended ethnic violence in Macedonia, the Balkans have settled into a real, if tenuous peace and vanished from Western headlines. But as the troubled region moves toward a final discussion of borders, minority rights and its place in Europe, the risk of renewed conflict grows.
This became abundantly clear six weeks ago when three bombs exploded in the center of Pristina where I was visiting. The blasts contained a message from Albanian nationalists to the United Nations as it evaluates whether Kosovo is ready to advance to final status talks -- the Balkans are at peace today, but they need not be tomorrow, and anything short of independence for Kosovo will lead to violence.

Another war in Kosovo could quickly spread to Macedonia and Montenegro, both of which have large Albania minorities, and might even draw in Albania itself. In other words, it could create the nightmare scenario that originally led NATO to intervene in the Balkans in 1999. While the sentiment in Kosovo is that independence is inevitable, the UN does not unilaterally redraw the borders of sovereign states like Serbia, so securing independence for Kosovo, and therefore peace, is completely dependent on the willingness of the Serbs to voluntary relinquish what they perceive as their spiritual and historical homeland.

There is only one solution: Europe. The belief that Europe is the answer to problems of economic stagnation, corruption and ethnic tension is the only idea that binds almost everyone in the Balkans, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, party affiliation or profession. And eventual EU membership is the most powerful incentive to good behavior and reform in history. The wealth offered by the EU is so great that in most countries, political parties are willing to work together to create the open political and economic systems.

The trouble is that betting everything on Europe is a serious risk. The promise of EU accession has helped win the peace in the Balkans, but the removal of that hope, a prospect raised by the recent defeat of the proposed EU constitution in referenda in France and the Netherlands, could quickly inflame the region. Even if the EU remains open to expansion, Europe is gambling that every Balkan country can reach the standards required for accession and that by admitting them all at the same time (with the exceptions of Slovenia, which is already a member, and Croatia and Bulgaria, which are scheduled to join in 2007), they can solve every border dispute and minority rights issue in one grand maneuver.

But if one border dispute cannot be resolved or one country cannot respect its minorities, the whole plan could crumble under its own weight.

With the EU as "Plan A," there is no "Plan B." The only Plan B is more war, more poverty and more ethnic cleansing.

It is essential that the Europeans, the United Nations and even the U.S. listen to the message in the rumbling of the Pristina bombs -- the woes of the Balkans have not been solved, only mitigated, and unless the West can make the political, financial and intellectual investments required to prepare all Balkan countries for EU membership and the Europeans can maintain the will to embrace them, future explosions may carry more than a message.

Daniel Kobayashi wrote this article for Global Beat Syndicate.

This is the economic reality for a lot of people, not just in New Orleans.

Chief Justice Rehnquist has died, again this just in from Northwest Cable.

John from 'My Ghosts!' had some things to say about the hurricane,

I note that my reply was absent, either I hit the wrong button or something.

John you're right some of it pissed me off. I also didn't comment annonymously, because especially if I'm discussing something with someone who visits my blog, I show the courtesy of not being annonymous. Pusi Kurac went beyond the proper means of reply and further hasn't really got a working blog. He could have said all that and been annonymous for all I damn well care.


I don't think you are heartless John, nor do I think you should pusi kurac.

I do think though that you are not the only one who doesn't understand that refugees are made by lots of circumstances besides war. Economic circumstance can make refugees and so can natural disasters. Many oppressive political circumstances short of war make refugees.

Frankly to say that people should have gotten out ahead is all well and good, but a lot of these people could not get out. I would have been in a real jam myself if here there were a similar disaster, because I can't drive. I do not see well enough to drive. There was no concerted effort to get people out who can't drive. The whole way the U.S. is run makes getting from point A to point B difficult if you don't drive. Rural areas simply don't have the level of private and public transit that is taken for granted in BiH,it's one of the ways most of Europe is ahead of us. Barring remote places like the Scottish Highlands and the Fior Gaeltacht regions of Ireland,Siberia, it's pretty easy to get around Europe without haveing a car. Then there's the matter of other than motorized transport, hardly used anymore in the States. Personally I don't feel safe rideing a bike, bikeing is more dangerous than driveing even if you see well because of the maniacs in cars.

I could legally own a horse on my property, BUT I could not use a horse to get around in town. I saw people useing horses and donkeys for transport in BiH and in Croatia, not LOTS mind, but it's not gone away. When you are as car centric as the U.S. has gotten it's bad. People could have been gotten out of town by first notifying them 1 backpack per family member, take the meds, the glasses, the documentation and get on the train, the bus, whatever the state could have handled that and got them the hell out. The National Guard should have been called out right away, and there should have been an immediate declaration of Martial Law. The National Guard could have secured any stores, and used the food and stuff in them as relief supplies. They could then have gone ahead and shot looters. Any stores with firearms should have been secured FIRST.
You mentioned places which live without certain ameneties, like air conditioning, flush toilets, clean drinking water etc on a daily basis. OK the lady who was so rude over MREs was stupid! We can agree on that one! We can agree that when people are so self destructive and ungrateful it makes it harder to rescue them. MREs really aren't that bad, they are hella better than school lunches I've eatten in fairly recent years! I am a damn good cook, and my kids both are good cooks too, and none of us have a problem with MREs !
Speaking of MREs I remember an incident that occured in the Bosnian war over that. Remember about the food drops? I remember hearing on the news that some of the MREs dropped into Muslim areas had pork, which of course Muslims don't eat. You might have a Muslim person who gets drunk, screws around, never prays but By God he's not gonna eat pork! I remember people in this country being really angry with the Bosniaks about that. I realize this is in a totally different catagory and context from the woman in the Superdome whineing about MREs, but the reactions are similar.
How I see it is that the American people just aren't used to these massive bitch slaps from the Almighty. People say and do wierd shit when they are in shock.
There also in this country has in the past been a big thing of not letting people see anyone who is dead until the morticians pretty up the dead folks. The situation IS gross. There are people who really didn't expect that dead bodies are going to lie around for damn near a week, that bodies will float on the water until the alligators eat them, etc.
Part of that sense of entitlement for help that you saw is in my opinion the result of things like media. TV in particular. I blame a certain attitude that almost comes from some people's religion for some of this, that God has showered so much material blessing on this country that when it goes away they feel really pissed about it. The other part is that a LOT of American people do have an exagerated sense of what is done by Americans for other countries in the way of foreign aid. They figure, our taxes go to pay for haveing basically two shooting wars, umpteen 'peace-keeping missions' and humanitarian aid that gets extended to friend and foe alike, Hell yeah folks here rightly or wrongly feel entitled. The lowest drug dealing pimp feels entitled. I think to a point you and I may even agree that that is messed up, but the very people that govern us, and the people who influence the popular mind-set have fostered this view of things. Everything from TV to music to newspapers, to the internet tends to get people thinking like that. Most of these folks haven't even gone to Mexico, let alone lived elsewhere, hell yeah they think this is as bad as it gets.
New Orleans had it's rougher areas. I was there for a short visit in the 1970s, with my ex-husband. I remember that it smelled real bad crossing Lake Ponchartrain. If before the hurricane, Lake Ponchartrain smelled as bad as I remember it, and people could not take the smell of the overflowing toilets in the Superdome, then it must have been an unholy reek.
On leaveing areas of imminant disaster, war is often pretty well advertised in advance. Everyone knew the Balkans was going to be a very BAD neighborhood soon. There was probably almost too much notice, I mean I noticed, and other people who knew a LOT more than me noticed. I like to say I would have gotten out, but then I don't know that. Maybe going someplace else would not have even been possible. Then too people tried to leave and it was prevented either by the enemies in their immediate vicinity or the immigration laws and policies of other places.
While within the U.S. this isn't a problem, some other things are, like being away from one's job for people who have jobs, and then there's the people who are on like welfare, SSI, Social Security, etc. They have to wait for checks. Being two or three states away causes these folks a problem. There were old people who didn't get moved because of Medicare regulations on transfering people to different hosptals, someone had to do an executive order on that one.
I need to say that I do have a personal concern here, my son-in-law's aunt, his father's sister in law and her kids got out alive, but they lost everything. They are someplace in Texas at this point. My daughter wants to offer them a place here in the gulag. I hope that can be done.
Incidentally 53 nations have offered foreign aid to the U.S., even Cuba has offered help! Just heard that on Northwest Cable News. So Sean Hanity, Mike Savage and Rush, just sit down and shut up ok? I get real tired of hearing how other nations don't care about our troubles, I for one am grateful that this is not so. There's people out there who appreciate the United States and the American people.
hvala.
There was a touching, Balkans related moment related on NPR, Louisianna is home to many many Croatian -Americans. There was a meeting hall used by these folks reduced to rubble. The janitor came and ran up the American and the Croatian flags and spoke with a reporter from NPR.
He kissed both flags before running them up the flag pole, as apparently he did every day.

Beetle
Originally uploaded by Marshed.

A friend took a picture of this bug. It's on my back porch. This is an adult Western Box Elder Bug. Note the oool pinstripes! How could anyone hate a bug like that?

I really think the whole thing in Louisianna is just sad, those poor people! It's kind of close to home for a few reasons, 1. I have traveled in the Southern United States and loved the people, and loved the places whether it was New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, and the other towns which have names I have forgotten, but had such nice people.
2. My daughter's father-in-law's sister and her kids lived in Louisianna, I am glad to say they got out alive, they lost everything, but at least they got out alive, they are someplace in Texas.
3. Some people I used to know live in Alabama, and I just hope they are ok.
The culture of Louisianna in particular of New Orleans was wonderful, tolerant and relaxed. It was one of my favorite American cities.
I can't help thinking that if the levies had been maintained better, a federal matter, maybe things would not have gotten so bad. I think too that some of the other stuff that went on after the hurricane and the floods was simply terrible. Snipeing at people who came to help is not my idea of cute, funny or even a good idea. It pisses me off anyone would do that.
I have a very bad feeling about this, and what it shows has happened to our country. I can understand the looting of food, and clothing, some of these people had no other way to get either food or clothing, and certainly no way to get money to pay for it.
I think martial law should have been declared sooner, I think troops could have commandeered the goods from large stores to use in relief efforts, and that the people should have been gotten out, the ones who could not drive could have been given notice to get their valuables, documents meds and been put on busses or trains or whatever and taken out of harms way. There was some warning there'd be a hurricane. I alos think President Bush should have put price controls on gas and other vital supplies. This is what I would have done for starters. It's quite true that all this was worse because of the loss of wet-lands, and the poor maintenance of levies.
The other thing I have to ask is why is it that the religious types who say that these events are 'God's Judgement' can't ever relate God's Judgement to wars, to greedy rulers? It's alwyas the fault of common people! jebiga bilokako!
Another source of amusement is that the right wing talk radio jerks were going off about how all these countries we help never send us help! that's all raimish! The Germans were the first to offer help, then the British, even the French, they did so without saying anything judgemental too. Hugo Chavez was a bit judgemental, but he even offered help. We should at least say 'Thanks for careing!' Hell if the aid is appropriate we should also accept it! There are people out there who ARE grateful to the United States or America and it's good they are glad to help! I say even we should say 'thanks Mr. Chavez, please send gas and oil!' And I wish the right wing talk show hosts would please stop saying 'no one ever offers the United States help!' because this is not true. I'm all for free speech, they have the right to be liars if they want, but they must not expect everyone to be patient with them for ever.

***
Notes on the box elder bugs, they have been less active of evenings. I haven't had the chance to photograph any lately. Just as well since I'm at my daughter's a few days. My monitor at home died, so I'm useing their computer. I will have a new monitor before classes start. I'm going to get a 17 inch.