Noone expected Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova to win against 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in a thrilling 6-2, 6-3 quarter-final game. So unexpected was Pironkova's success that no Bulgarian journalist had been assigned to cover Wimbledon this year. Now all of Bulgaria has its eyes firmly directed towards SW19 in hope that Pironkova will nail it ('piron' in Bulgarian means 'nail') and possibly make it into the final. Not since the success of Maleeva sisters or the disappointment of Sesil Karatancheva, who after a 2 year ban for drug abuse now plays for Kazakhstan, has Bulgarian tennis shown such promise. Let's hope that Pironkova nails it all the way.
Devout Catholic and self-confessed liar, Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott, has said that Aborigines must get jobs, even if this means picking up rubbish around their communities. The picture above appeared in Australia's tabloid press, reminding their main demographic of their long-held stereotype that Aborigines are messy people. Rarely is any cultural understanding applied in that the wasteful material goods of our modern Western society just don't mix with the values and needs of 40,000 years of Aboriginal society. Looks like this is yet another case of the opposition Liberal Party using everpresent, subliminal racism to win some votes in the upcoming election.
Most fitting comment made to this news item: I am 64 and can't get a job. I would gladly pick up rubbish if that job became available! Where do I apply?
Little Johnny Howard truly lives in his 1950s fantasy world. Former Australian PM and self-confessed 'cricket nut' (the Aussie tabloids used to call him that in a positive tone) has failed in his bid to become vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and he is baffled as to why. Well, where do I start? The picture above of John Howard enjoying a banter with Australian cricket capatin Ricky Ponting says a lot. Ponting, the epitomy of Howard's Australia - white family man who loves his country and saw racial sledging as a legitimate game tactic in cricket, but only if the Australians are calling the South Asian, African and West Indian players racist slurs, is loathed throughout the cricketing world for his arrogance, hypocrisy, patronising attitude and superiority complex. These 'values' flourished under John Howard's 12 year reign of Australia. Ambivalence to such negative behaviours was another trait of those years as many Australian honestly believed that they were genuinely liked by the rest of the world. What this segment of Australian society failed to see is that locking up asylum seekers fleeing wars that Australia participated in (Iraq and Afghanistan in particular), and fanning the jingoistic flames of a crude nationalism which encouraged racism reminiscent of the likes displayed during the 'White Australia Policy' years prior to the 1970s, does not win many friends in the rest of the world. So Howard shouldn't be surprised then. Obviously Howard is still surrounded by a group of yesmen sheltering him from reality i.e. his wife. Little Johnny should wake up and realise that he lost this, like he lost the last election, because of himself.
As I reported a few days ago about Serbian turbofolk star and now reality show winner, Miloš Bojanić, the latest of the pathological lies typical of the backwardness of his Balkan rural mentality is that he defeated Ceca at the Poselo 202 song festival in 1995. In reality, Ceca defeated Bojanić by 4 votes, but details have never been a strong point with him, even if the Serbian press has splashed the truth across its pages.
Poselo 202 was the name of a folk music programme on Radio Belgrade in the 1980s and 1990s instrumental in promoting turbofolk and, eventually, Serbian nationalism. Every year in January Poselo 202 would organise a grand concert to pick its singer of the year. 15,000 Serbs would pour in to sing the hits of their favourite turbofolk stars and be intoxicated in the frenzy of locally-made celebrity, music and national pride. A scary example of this madness is when in 1992, while heavy fighting engulfed Vukovar, Rade Vučković, Zoran Kalezić and Čobi whipped the Serbian audience into nationalist delirium with their song 'U boj, u boj, u boj!' (To Battle, To Battle, To Battle)
In the interview at the end of the clip, though he gives praise to Arkan's men in fighting the Croatians, there seems to be a sense of sadness and regret in Vučković's voice, somewhat suggesting that he wrote the song more as a way to keep with the madness of the time than anything else. As has always been the case in Eastern Europe, a music career has always depended on political patronage.
Once the Balkan wars of the early 90s finished, so did Poselo's purpose and slowly withered away.
Unfancied Paraguay and Japan are currently playing a second round match in this year's World Cup, the result of which will see either of these teams for the first time making it to the quarter finals. Most World Cups produce a winning underdog - a team which never expected to make it past the first round making it all the way to the quarter or even semi finals. In 2006 it was Ukraine, 2002 it was South Korea and Turkey, 1998 Croatia, 1990 Cameroon, while in 1994 Bulgaria made it to the semis after shockingly defeating Germany 2-1. One of the stars of the Bulgarian squad was an unassuming Yordan Lechkov, a modest footballer playing at the time for German side Hamburg. He scored two key goals at that World Cup and instantly became an international star. Mention 'Bulgaria' in most parts of the world and the first response usually is 'Lechkov'. His career afterwards was characterised by disputes with the clubs he played for and the Bulgarian football officials. Never one comfortable with the limelight, he decided to quit football and returned to his hometown of Sliven in central Bulgaria. With a desire to put something back into the community, he opened a football academy and then a hotel complex which included a huge nightclub called 'Imperia'. Complaints to the local council about the loud noise emanating from the club almost led to its closure. So what could Lechkov do to avoid this? Become mayor, of course, which he did after being elected in 2003. Now head of council, no more threat of closure. Reeelected in 2007, Lechkov has recently been accused of official misconduct and was removed from his post of mayor. However, the appeals court today in Burgas has reappointed Lechkov as mayor, but I feel we haven't seen the end of this.
Olly Murs, last year's runner-up in the UK X Factor reality show is to release his debut single on the 29th August. Most curious was this statement by Murs: "We want something that's going to showcase me as an artist and get rid of the X Factor name as such."
So who's this "we" then? His record label and producers. And as for 'getting rid of the X Factor name', why then release the debut single just as the latest season of X Factor cranks up and is yet again the centre of entertainment media attention?
'Just like a Cold War spy novel' ran one headline. Seems to be where the Western media gained their 'facts'. 10 Russian spies were arrested in the US yesterday. The Western media is already capitalising on this drawing loose parallels to modern day Russia to the old Western clichés of the USSR. Even more respected sources like the BBC are in on the act. As it goes on to say: 'The funniest aspect of the careers of the 10 alleged Russian "agents" arrested in the US is how inept they were - and how apparently unsuccessful. The most worrying aspect, for Western governments, is that the Russian intelligence agency should be engaged in this kind of endeavour, as if the US were still an enemy. The old KGB clan, symbolised by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, still seems to exercise influence. It must have been fun for them, a reminder of the "good old days" perhaps, to nurture this network, though surely some smart people in Moscow must have begun to wonder when there would be some results'.
Please! Talk about jingo-ism. Governments, even close allies, spy on each other all the time. Israel has been on the firing line for this as of late, but the insinuation here is that righteous and lawful countries such as the USA or UK would never do such a thing is a complete falsehood and self-delusional myth of the moral highground. On more basic terms - we wear the white hat, Russia wears the black hat. We have here yet another case of the type of paranoid propaganda that the West usually levels at 'bad' countries like Russia or China. This type of reporting provides greater proof that the West still see Russia as the enemy rather than the other way around. And just to add, George Bush Senior was head of the CIA but hardly anything was made of it. Putin, on the other hand, will always be identified as KGB.
Interesting article analysing the English hysteric obsession on the fortunes of the national football team and why defeat at the World Cup is taken so badly.
Argentinian footballers showing their support for Las abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo (The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) who for the past 30 years have been campaigning for justice for the victims of the dirty war waged by Argentina's fascist army leaders in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Las abuelas have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and would be far more deserving recipients than the current holder (yes, that's you Obama).
In any case, the Argentinian team, coached by the entertaining football legend Maradona have been playing spectacular football at the World Cup and I am gunning for them to go all the way and win the whole thing. I just hope that this was no kiss of death now. ¡Vamos Argentina!
Yesterday evening, the main opposition party in Macedonia, the ex-Communist Social Democratic Union of Macedonian (SDSM) organised a rally outside of parliament in Skopje calling for early elections. SDSM organisers claims that 50,000 people attended the protest, but as can be seen in this video, perhaps 10,000 at most were there.
SDSM party chief, Branko Crvenkovski, a former electrician, who has been either premier or president of Macedonia for most of the past 20 years of independence, addressed the crowd accussing the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party of leading Macedonia to economic brink and doing all it can to not achieve EU membership for the country. SDSM announced that this protest will be the start of a campaign to 'delegitimise' the government in an effort to place pressure for early elections, which are not scheduled until 2012. The government laughed off the protest calling it a 'fiasco' and are adament that in the interests of stability for the country, the government will do as mandated and serve its full term.
Why is the opposition so silly? Many reasons. First of all, SDSM is desperately trailing in the polls behind the government and has been for some time. SDSM has been in power for a majority of the time since independence in 1991, and the economic collapse they now accuse the government of creating has been a feature of the Macedonian economy for the whole independence era. With this in mind, many Macedonians see that it's highly hypocritical and short-sighted for SDSM to lay blame on all economic ills on the government when SDSM had been in power sufficiently enough to have done something - but didn't. The levels of corruption, nepotism and heavy handedness on the media that SDSM accuses the government of maintaining is actually lower than when SDSM were in power. What this all hides is that SDSM is still essentially made up of the same apparatchiks of the old Yugoslav-era League of Communists, whose political careers were built by corruption, nepotism and careerism which saw loyalty for Yugoslavia (and Serbia) above Macedonia. Under a VMRO-DPMNE government, this old-boy system is no more, so they are desperately wanting the power that they've had for an overwhelming part of the last 65 years back. SDSM also exploits the nostalgia many Macedonians have for the mythical 'good old days' of Titoist Yugoslavia. Unfortunately for these people, they have yet to realise that those good old days that only exist in their airbrushed memories are not going to come back just because the same (but rebranded) party that existed then is around. SDSM does have backing from some elements in the EU as they are seen as being more flexible in making a compromise on the name issue. However it is naive to think that with a change of the official name of the country that there wouldn't be a likewise accompanying change to the term 'Macedonian' for language and people. Many SDSM members have also been prominent in voicing their opinion against the current measures by the government to move away from the false notion promoted in Yugoslavia that modern Macedonians trace an unbroken and pure blood line with the Slavs who supposedly arrived into the Balkans in the 6th century. This theory then in turn fuels SDSM policy in supporting 'Slavic and Orthodox brother' Serbia, even though a quarter of Macedonia's population is Albanian, while Serbia hardly returns the favour when it refuses to recognise the Macedonian Orthodox Church and fully supports Greece on the name issue. The current government has come under increasing fire over its so-called 'antiquisation' programme, which has been promoting the fact that the modern day Macedonians are heterogenous and can trace bloodlines from the ancient Macedonians, the Slavs and all other invaders and migrations to Macedonia. This concept is far more in line with reality than the discredited pure-Slav notion promoted by SDSM, as evident when looking at the Macedonians - even in the same family you can see relatives ranging from Nordic-looking blondes with blue eyes right through to swarthy and indistinguishable from Roma. As it has been pointed out, the number of Serbian flags waving at the protest outnumbered the Macedonian ones.
SDSM had plenty of time in power to actually make a difference and set a path to economic recovery for Macedonia. However, it proved to be a corrupt and self-interest party that was, and still is, perfectly content in remaining in its Yugo-era created sloth bubble. It has yet to show any true vision for the future, and that is why so few people except the party faithful turned out to its protest. Instead of wallowing in self-delusion, SDSM needs to face facts and realise that they just can't gain support solely out of electorate dissatisfaction with the government. It needs to show that it has its interests in the people and not in themselves - credibility they lack. But, they won't. This is why SDSM won't get early elections or even win the next scheduled ones, and rightfully so.
Not a good sign. Turkey is closing its vital airspace to Israeli military aircraft. Turkish airspace access is vital for Israel because it is banned from overflying most Arab and Muslim countries. The worst thing to happen to Israel would be if this Turkish ban was to extend to civilian aircraft. Then Israel would be cut off from Asia and Eastern Europe, disrupting trade and further isolating an already isolated state. No amount of Hasbara (PR) or YouTube videos will fix this up. It's time for Netanyahu, Lieberman and their group of right-wing crazies to stop being so stubborn, start being human and apologise to Israel's friend Turkey for the raid on the Flotilla, not just because of airspace rights but because it is the right thing to do for Israel.
Well, it doesn't that much, sorry to say. Kyrgyzstan has been a kicking ball between Russia, USA and China as of late. Following independence in 1991 under the leadership of Askar Akayev, Kyrgyzstan was fast becoming an anomaly in Central Asia - an properly functioning democracy with comparatively low levels of corruption. Without the mass reserves of natural resources which neighbours Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan possess, and extremely isolated by virtue of being at the centre of the Eurasian land mass, Kyrgyzstan was at the liberty of outside forces. Akayev's rule by the turn of the century supposedly started to display the same totalitarian traits already witnessed in its neighbours, whereby his son and daughter were elected into parliament, light measures against opposition media and politicians applied and corruption growing (but not at Uzbek levels). However, when Akayev was toppled in 2005 in the popular but violent 'Tulip Revolution', I didn't buy it. On a regional basis, Akayev was the most transparent of Central Asia's leaders, his children were genuinely (and still are) interested in politics, which is unlike, for example, Uzbekistan president's daughter Gulnara Karimova (more about her another time), and Kyrgyzstan served as a model of democratisation for the region. Nonetheless, that's what Kyrgyzstan was to serve as - a model. In other words, the 'Great Game' of the 19th century between the world's then superpowers was now being played out again. The 'Tulip Revolution' was definitely a win for the USA for control of the region, to guarantee access for US troops to Afghanistan (a problem since the Uzbeks forced them out previously), but most of all to act as a sign to the dictators of the region that if they don't watch out, the USA could organise similar 'revolutions' in their country. So with trumped up justifications of corruption and threatening democracy, the Western media swallowed the USA line in full that this 'Tulip Revolution' was the culmination of long-held public discontent with the Akayev government.
Apparently, the 'Tulip Revolution' was supposed to usher in a new era of democracy not just for Kyrgyzstan but for the region. That was the initial superficial image provided while attention was still focused on the country. However, as soon as the West felt content that good had been done and turned its attention away, the new government under Kurmanbek Bakiyev quickly became even more authoritarian and corrupt than the supposed authoritarian and corrupt Akayev government it swept away. But... noone in the West cared because he was 'our' guy and the Manas airfield was being used as a way station for US forces in Afghanistan. Bakiyev, knowning very well that Kyrgyzstan had nothing to offer except Manas to the Americans, then pitted Russia, China and the USA against each other in a successful effort to extract as much aid from them as possible. Unfortunately for the Kyrgyzstanis, their lot did not improve as promised, instead things became worse than before. Added with the Central Asian tendency for nepotism, regional and tribal loyalties and political patronage, Bakiyev was rewarding his power base of ethnic Kyrgyz in the southern city of Jalalabad while the rest of the country was suffering.
Before going on, some background. The Kyrgyz as a nation, like other Central Asian peoples, didn't exist until the 1920s when Stalin, who was Commissar for Nationalities at the time, decided that the Turkic and Persian speaking peoples of Soviet Central Asia would need to be organised into separate nations. A classic case of divide and rule, what distinguished the Kyrgyz were that they were Turkic-speaking mountain nomads, as opposed to the Turkic-speaking settled Uzbeks or plains nomadic Kazakhs. At first, the Kyrgyz were known as Kara-Kyrgyz (Black Kyrgyz) as the Kyrgyz title was given to the Kazakhs so that they could be distinguished from the Russian Cossacks (Kazaks in Russian). The differences between Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Uzbek today are extremely slight, reflecting the pre-1920s ethnic situation in Central Asia when all Turkic-speakers saw themselves as Turks. To add to the mix, the borders of the new Soviet Central Asian republics were drawn haphazardly, supposedly to reflect these ethnic divisions by some accounts, or to ensure that each republic is interdependent by others. As the Soviet Union effectively operated as the one country out of Moscow, these borders meant nothing during Soviet times, but only posed a major problem once the USSR collapsed in 1991. This explains why the southern part of Kyrgyzstan is much better connected to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan than to its capital Bishkek, or that the railway line from Almaty in Kazakhstan to Tashkent in Uzbekistan now criss-crosses the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border at many locations. Likewise, many ethnic groups lived outside of their nominal republics, hence why Uzbeks form a substantial minority in southern Kyrgyzstan.
There has never been a history of animosity between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks as they are essentially the same people who were only divided a little less than 100 years ago. With this in mind, when violence erupted in Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, noone could believe what was happening. 200 people died in violent clashes in June 1990, caused by disputes over water and land. However, as soon as independence was declared the following year, there was no further violence. This has led many to believe that the violence was orchestrated by local Communist Party officials, with help from the Soviet Army, desperate to cling on to power by instigating the clashes and ramming down the message that collapse of the Communist Party apparatus and of the USSR as a whole would lead to ethnic violence and war. Fortunately, and predictably, that did not eventuate.
So why has there been violence again, now in 2010? The best explanation I have read is that this violence, which the Western media have been quick to jump to clichés by erroneously labelling as 'historical animosity', has been led and conducted by local organised criminal groups, in particular heroin drug-running operations, intent on keeping their power over the region and creating an atmosphere of instability - the perfect environment for organised crime to operate. Rumours of one ethnic group receiving favourable treatment, especially when there's high unemployment, plus a mass return of male workers from Russia and Kazakhstan, resulting in a whole mass of males with no purpose in life and without the means to financially support families and fulfil their male role as providers, fuels their need to emasculate themselves somehow and, in turn, makes for fertile ground for violence. This has been a pattern witnessed in many other flashpoints, whether it be Bosnia, Macedonia, Sri Lanka, Congo ... you name it.
The interim president of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva, was right in pushing ahead with the referendum for changing from a presidential to parliamentary system. The intial results indicate an overwhelming majority have voted for this significant change, which brings hope to the region so characteristically ruled by larger than life presidents with growing personality cults. Kyrgyzstan's hope now is that this change will bring benefits to all of its citizens and hopefully without any negative inteference from its neighbours and foreign powers.
There are three steps in this chapter of the Horrifying Scumbag Playbook.
STEP ONE: Your lackeys have murdered someone in full view of the entire world. Whoops! Time to express "regret."
Statement by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, expressing regret about the murder of Iranian citizen Neda Agha-Soltan and others by the Basij militia: "All of us regret the fact that some people were killed...I was saddened, as well all the Iranian people were saddened."
Statement by Barack Obama, President of the United States, expressing regret about the murder of U.S. citizen Furkan Dogan and others by Israel: The President expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded. • • • STEP TWO: Call for an investigation. No one wants to learn the truth more than you!
Statement on the Iranian government website, calling for an investigation of the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and others: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday requested the Judiciary chief to hold inquiry into Neda Agha-Sultan’s murder...the president told Ayatollah Shahroudi “to instruct the judiciary establishment to follow up the case of her death...”
Statement on the White House website, endorsing an investigation of the murder of Furkan Dogan and others: ...the United States [supports] the completion of a prompt, impartial, credible, and transparent investigation. • • • STEP THREE: Now's the fun part: your Official Enemy has murdered someone in full view of the entire world. You're outraged! Also, you stand with the victims!
Statement by Ahmadinejad, condemning the murder of Furkan Dogan and others, and expressing solidarity with Palestinians: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday strongly condemned the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against the human rights activists on board Flotilla of six aid ships...President Ahmadinejad voiced Iran’s solidarity with the Palestinian nation and said the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to back the Palestinian nation and its true supporters.
Statement by Obama, condemning the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and others, and expressing solidarity with Iranians: I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost... And I think it's important for us to make sure that -- that we let the Iranian people know that we are watching what's happening, that they are not alone in this process.
I would also like to add that the latest statements from the G8/G20 summit in Toronto produced a strong condemnation of the Cheonan sinking but the Gaza Flotilla only warranted a deep regret
Lollobrigida (a.k.a. Lollobrigida Girls, a.k.a VIS Lollobrigida) is a Zagreb-based electro-punk-bubblegum-trash group. They started off as a duo but have now expanded to a quintet. Their hit from last year 'Volim te' (I Love You) is my favourite song at the moment. Enjoy...
Another great song of theirs is 'Moj dečko je gej' (My Boyfriend is Gay).
Winner of what? The latest Serbian celebrity reality show, Farma (The Farm). Miloš Bojanić, a 60 year old Turbofolk singer from Bosnia won the popular yet controversial reality show with a total of almost 40% of the votes out of 5 'superfinalists' last night, causing outrage and joy depending on who you talked to.
Farma, based on a Swedish TV concept, was first shown in Serbia last year featuring 17 Serbian celebrities living on a purpose-built farm devoid of the comforts of modern living - no electricity or running water and all food needed to be grown by the particpants. This show is part of the huge trend in Balkan television for celebrity reality show formats, and due to their ever increasing popularity, celebrities (for want of a better word) have been clamouring to get on to these shows. As has been the case in most TV markets, D-list celebrities seeking a last gasp for their struggling careers or new starlets with little talent desperate for more publicity have seen their stocks and profiles rise after appearing on Farma or VIP Big Brother. Some, like Macedonian drag queen Boki 13 have been able to capitalise on the fact that these shows are broadcast across many Balkan countries and have expanded out of their restricting home countrz markets to go on and pursue 'international' careers.
Farma in particular has been the centre of much controversy. Last year I happened to see one episode when the 'farmers' were treated to a visit by the Turbofolk king and queen Aca Lukas (who was drunk the whole time and didn't say a word) and Ceca, whose kitschy, folksy outfit (to go with the 'farm' theme) brought to question her role as a supposed style queen. The recently finished second season started soon after the first, rated very strong and brought in a lot of money for the highly successful and Milošević-era media sedative TV Pink. What counts as a celebrity on these shows usually boils down to three catergories: singers, TV presenters and politicians. The latest season featured no less than 10 singers, a majority of whom are Turbofolkers, 2007 Eurovision winner Marija Šerifović, a dancer who performs on a high-rating Turbofolk variety show, a few presenters and an insignificant politican. Controversy erupted when one D-List Turbofolk singer, Indi, was kicked off the show for not following orders, which resulted in a huge flurry of accusations of impending court cases with the producers which in the end was just part of Indi's vain attempts of milking publicity. The behaviour of a young singing couple who had fallen in love while competing on a Pop-Idol-style Turbofolk talent show (also on TV Pink) has placed a question mark over their futures, while part-time Roma, infamous member of Slobodan Milošević's wife's Mira Marković's Yugoslav Left Party JUL, and briefly Culture Minister, the pink-haired Zorica Brunclik, had accusations of government corruption made against her. Championed to win was yet another Turbofolk singer, Mina Kostić (born Nermina Jashari), who despite only having released 2 albums, one in 2002 with cover versions of Greek, Turkish and Bulgarian songs, and the other in 2005 which successfully added electro-pop elements to Turbofolk, has maintained a high media profile for almost 10 years. She is quite open about her Albanian-speaking, Kosovo Roma background, though this could have been the ultimate stumbling block in gaining the televotes of the average Serbian viewer.
What has drawn the most public attention has been the winner, Miloš Bojanić, polarising Serbian society and grabbing far more attention than the World Cup (even when Serbia was still in it). Born in rural northern Bosnia in 1950, Miloš Bojanić has been a successful Turbofolk singer since the 1970s. His biggest hit came in 1987 with the sentimental ode to his birthplace 'Bosno moja, jabuko u cvetu' (My Bosnia, A Apple In Bloom).
He wholeheartedly participated in the role of nationalist propaganda singer during the Balkan war years in the early 1990s, most famously singing a new song in 1995 dedicated to the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina Republika Srpska. Ever using his crafty wit gained from village life, Bojanić was never shy of using nepotism to position his two sons to become Turbofolk singers themselves, the eldest Bane scoring a few Turbolfolk hits in the mid-1990s before getting married to a Serbian woman in the USA and settling down to a quiet, surburban family existence in Chicago. On the same token, after the war Bojanić cunningly dropped the nationalist songs, started doing cover versions of Turkish Arabesque songs (despite the irony and hypocrisy) and started to claim that he himself had penned these songs! In 2004, Bojanić was back on the Turbofolk charts with a brass-band number called 'Ludilo' (Crazy). Bojanić was aware that he couldn't sell the song on his looks alone, so he skillfully hired a string of young and beautiful belly dancers to help, to much effect.
He went through so many belly dancers as they all quickly quit soon after getting the job, claimng that he was a sleaze, didn't pay them the amounts he promised and was a pathological liar, all of which Bojanić denied. The video clip that went with the song featured Bojanić on a visit to Australia being greated in Sydney by a 1950s convertible with 3 bellydancing girls. Essentially, it is an ego trip and brag piece to his poor, rural fanbase to show how he gets to travel in style and gets the girls.
Now, Bojanić is the biggest celebrity in Serbia. This is thanks mainly to Bojanić appealing to the main demographic watching Farma - rural, low-class, uneducated and patriotic, which essentially is Bojanić's Turbofolk fanbase that identifies and is entertained by watching their Turbofolk celebrities doing the same farm tasks they do daily. In an article in the Belgrade daily 'Press' titled 'A Great Manipulator with Village Logic', several psychologists and sociologists were interviewed to give their insight to Bojanić's victory and how this reflects on Serbian society. Aleksandra Janković, a psychologist noted that Bojanić used typical divide and rule tactics to make him look like the victim. By then presenting himself as a true Serb and a proud Orthodox Christian, he embodied Serbian and rural victimhood, much appealling to the values, myths and antagonisms held by the main viewing demographic. Janković also added that Bojanić is a narcissist who has no compassion and will use any form of manipulation and lies to get what he wants. Psychotherapist Zoran Milivojević commented that Bojanić is a symbol of Serbian village craftiness in that he endeared himself to and behaved like his audience by not succumbing to the attacks made against him by urban-based participants. Bojanić's actions on the show have had a marked effect on Serbian society, so much so that a new phrase 'ponašeš kao Miloš Bojanić' (you're behaving like Miloš Bojanić) has entered into the lexicon in both a positive and negative meaning.
In the end, Bojanić ended up winning 100,000 Euros, which he made a point in saying will go for his 34 year old second wife Branka, and to help his sons and their families. Even though his extended family is already quite well off, by emphasising this Bojanić continues to appeal to his fanbase's moral values where parental self-sacrifice for offspring regardless of age is held in very high esteem. Whether this actually happens in practice is another story as Bojanić is a champion of sleaze and manipulation. Hey, he has 100,000 Euros to prove it. What Bojanić's victory does prove, much to the fear of more open-minded and educated elements within Serbian society, is that he was able to do the same that Milošević did 20 years ago - Serbian rednecks can be manipulated to push the agenda of a smarter Serbian redneck.
Legendary Serbian folk singer Mica Trofrtaljka, who caused a storm in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s with her hilarious and often erotic songs, is the subject of a documentary film to be shown at this year's Sarajevo Film Festival. Milica Ostojić, whose stage name means 'Mica, the three-quarter length skirt girl', first made her splash in 1968 with the hit 'Davorinke Dajke', at a time, as the producer of the film Milan Nikodijević recollects, when Europe was gripped by student protests and Yugoslavia had just defeated the current world champions England at the Euro Football Cup. Trofrtaljka was a woman true to her poor, village background; not at all shy from singing songs laden with double entendres which brought a laugh to her mainly rural fan base but raised the ire of the government-controlled media, labelling her music as trash. She was the leading light of a folk music underground, notoriously popular but shunned by the mainstream. As is common with performers like Mica worldwide, she was unbelievably successful, selling hundreds of thousands of records, but now lives not much differently than before stardom, still in her home village.
Trofrtajlka's style of folk music with humorous and often lewd lyrics, usually at odds with the religious moral guidelines associated with village life, has been a feature of Balkan folk culture for centuries. One such form of this music, called izvorna muzika, combining ancient singing styles with modern-day humorous lyrics is found in Bosnia. Here is an example by Mara & Lole with their song 'Imun Mića od pornića' (Mića is Immune to Pornos). The lyrics go that last night she watched pornos with her neighbour Mića (a male name here) but he drank all night while she was hoping for some action...
700 people today marched under heavy police protection through Sofia in the third gay pride parade to be held in Bulgaria. This came amidst much public and media discussion in recent weeks after a 23 year old man was brutally attacked by Neo-Nazis in an inner Sofia park because he 'looked gay' in their self-styled campaign to 'clean the parks of abnormal people'. Despite entry into the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria still remains a socially conservative country which as one woman at the parade who was holding a placard with 'We, your mothers, support you' said: [Bulgarian] society is intolerant towards Roma, it's intolerant towards people with disablities, but differences must be accepted'. Unfortunately, a majority of Bulgarians do not share the views of this brave mother. As evident in the many comments made on forums about the gay pride parade and gay rights in Bulgaria, many Bulgarians believe that gay people are mentally sick and should see a psychologist. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, who holds considerable sway over Bulgarian society, joined other, mainly extreme right-wing, organisations in condemning the parade. Even an 'anti-parade' was held, with ultra-nationalists holding signs such as 'all abnormals go to Uganda'. On the other hand, NGOs promoting human rights and many ambassadors of western European countries publicly and prominently offered their support. What may seem contradictory to all this is that while Bulgarian society in general is intolerant to a gay pride parade and gay people, one of the most popular singers in Bulgaria, Azis, happens to be openly gay. However, when asked about the gay pride parade, according to one Bulgarian celebrity gossip website, Azis said that he 'doesn't support such displays' as he doesn't see that it's 'proper'. He added that 'what's the point of parading when trying to promote equality, participants in the parade end up behaving like clowns'.
The big question hanging over Bulgaria is whether it is truly prepared to be a tolerant society fitting the ideals espoused by the EU. Membership into the Union ostensibly was supposed to facilitate greater tolerance in society, however in practice this may take much longer than expected.
Much speculation has been buzzing around the Western media today about an announcement made by DPR Korean media sources that the ruling Workers Party of Korea (WPK) will convene in October. Details about in what capacity this convening will be are sketchy, but if it is so that the WPK can elect a new leader, then this meeting could be of the Central Committee plenum, which incidentally hasn't met since 1993. It's unlikely that it will be a Party congress, despite the Party Act regulating for such meetings every 5 years. The last congress of the WPK has held in 1980 (after an absence of 10 years) when the current DPR Korean supreme commander Kim Jong-il was appointed successor to his father Kim Il-sung without being superficially legitimised with the expected 100% approval vote by delegates.
If this meeting does produce a new generation of leaders, then most likely as speculated Kim Jong-il's youngest known son Kim Jong-un will finally be elevated to an official position. Going through party lines would be a more fitting way to launch Kim Jong-un's political career, though this would signify a reverse in trend in the political running of the country. As DPR Korea's official ideology is Juche-Songun (Self-Reliance and 'Army-First'), the Army and its soldiers are seen as the vanguard of the revolution and not the Party and its members, which was the case in most other Communist countries past and present. Seeing that the military essentially holds all power in DPR Korea, the Workers Party has had very little relevance, hence the lack of need for Party congresses and central committee plenums. However, the young Kim Jong-un, believed to be 28 years old, has no military experience, which was no barrier for his father eventually becoming supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. Nevertheless, someone so young leading a 1 million-strong armed forces that holds all power would never be accepted, especially when there are underlying social values respecting age which, in themselves, are not solely Confucian and deeply penetrate not just DPR Korean but most Asian societies. This would then explain why the long neglected party apparatus may be revived as it would better accomodate the youth and inexperience of the new leader, who already is rumoured to be honoured as the 'brilliant comrade'. This was the way that his father progressed. So we just have to wait until October to see whether the North Korean populace will be called out to wave pink and red flowers on the street to greet the delegates and Central Committe members to do their duty.
Millions of dollars have been poured into staging the latest G8 Summit in Canada and the most significant announcement they make is a condemnation of DPR Korea. Really! Poverty all solved then? Please, could I have my money back then?
I happen to accidently find the Serbian World Cup 2010 song called (rather imaginatively) 'Hej Srbija' (Hey Serbia). Released in November 2009 after the Serbs qualified, the nation went into hype overload sure of themselves of certain victory in South Africa. The lyrics includes the line 'and the Brazilians should be scared'. Who would have thought that a group of Aussies would spoil their party, cause them to unceremoniously come last in their group and return to Belgrade much sooner than they expected. Such is the excitement of the World Cup.
One tip for Snežana Djurišić: Give the Fubu cap back to your grandchildren.
According to a statement released by the Communists of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast(surprised they actually refer to St. Petersburg as such and not Leningrad), the Portuguese 7-0 grubbing of the North Koreans was a giant plot. To summarise, the feindish plan involved the Portuguese pledging allegiance to former fascist dictator Salazar, 4 North Koreans were kidnapped and taken to the US embassy so that they could be studied, then they were 'replaced' with 4 South Korean decoys at the last minute who allowed the steroid-fuelled Portuguese to win. So there!
Some fun! Here is a sample of the type of video clips known as 'spotovi' which used to be shown on most government-run TV stations for hours each evening in Serbia during the mad war Milošević years (1991-1995). These low-cost productions featured a Serbian turbofolk singer in unique (i.e. sanctions-created isolationist) fashion, often with young and sometimes fashionable young beautiful people dancing in the background to lend this music some cool cred. First up, Zlata Petrović with her 1993 "Djavo"
Another concept was pile in the singers into some restaurant, give them all the chance to sing a song and there, you have a show. Here we have the notorious Ceca Veličković, just before she married Arkan Ražnatović, singing with Džej Ramadanovski, who later would be singing on the campaign trail for Arkan's Serbian Unity Party which esposed Serbian ethnic purity, even though Ramadanovski is Roma of Muslim Macedonian background. The song is 'Sexy ritam' (Sexy Rhythm).
A big hit in 1994 for Jelena Bročić and the song 'Bele rade' (White Daisies). Note the huge cross on the young girl. The lyricist of this song was heavily promoted in the Serbian media as she lived in Pale, the then capital of Republika Srpska i.e. on the frontline.
Nino was a huge star in Serbia during the 1990s. Born Amir Rešić to a Muslim family in Bosnia, he made a very public conversion to Orthodox Christianity during the height of the Balkan war hypernationalism in 1993. Now officially Nikola Rešić, Nino was the top male Serbian turbofolk singer of the time. Here is one of his most popular songs, made into a new MTV-style 'spot' that came into vogue in 1994 - 'Šta ću mala s tobom' (What Will I Do With You, Little Girl).
Nino's popularity began to wane in the late 1990s. He married Turbofolk singer Sara and they became an 'it' couple. However, Nino had a problem with the demon liquor, resulting in his divorce in 2004. By this time, Nino was no longer popular, partly because he no longer was a useful nationalist propaganda tool. So what to do? Nino converted back to Islam, of course. He was such the prodigal son that less than 15 years after having been billed by Serbian nationalist propaganda as a Bosnian Muslim who having reawakened to his true and original national identity corrected the wrongs of 400 years of Islamic domination and became an Orthodox Christian again, here he is singing 'There's No Religion More Beautiful Than Islam'.
Unfortunately for Nino, Islam could not save him from alcoholism. In was in shock that ex-Yugoslavia found out in October 2007 that Nino died, aged 43, of pancreas perforation due to prolonged alcoholism. His death came only two days after the death of the young Macedonian pop star Toše Proeski, which too had shook the Yugosphere. Such is the fate of many Yugosphere pop stars.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the start of what is termed as the 'forgotten war' in the West - the Korean War. However, for most Koreans, especially in the North, this war is far from forgotten as the after-effects of this conflict are still present. Technically, the war is still on, as the two sides only signed a non-aggression treaty on the 27th July 1953 at Panmunjeom, the village now famous as being the symbol of Korea's devision.
For three years, the Korean peninsula saw millions of people due to what started as a very mobile proxy war between the two new superpower camps at the time, and then resulted in over 2 years of practical stalemate centred around the 38th parallel. As this conflict still has not been settled, conflicting narratives provide us with black-and-white versions of events leading to the all-important factor of who started the war. On the one side we have the southern part of the peninsula occupied by American forces and having installed Syngman Rhee, a prominent Korean independence leader, who claim that the '6-2-5 War' (referring to the Korean-format start date - 6th month and 25th day) was started by an attack by the Communist North. The North Koreans, who had witnessed Soviet troops leave their territory 2 years earlier, claim that the 'Great Fatherland Liberation War' was started by a premeditated attack from the South by American forces. The war first resulted in a lighting North Korean victory, conquering/liberating most of Korea except for the area around Busan. However, General MacArthur led 'UN Troops' of 15 nations in a surprise attack on Incheon, behind North Korean lines and soon enough had pushed the North Korean forces almost all the way to Korea's Chinese border. This near-defeat is referred to as the 'strategic temporary retreat' in North Korea nowadays. What changed the fortunes of the North Koreans was when one million Chinese volunteers poured in to assist the North Koreans, pushing the US-led UN forces back to a stalemate at the 38th parallel. During the 2 years of attrition, there was talk of the US attacking Chinese cities in Manchuria with nuclear bombs. However, the non-aggression treaty was signed after prolonged discussions by both sides resulting in the permanent division Korea has witnessed for the past 60 years. North Korean propaganda interprets this stalemate as a victory over American imperialism.
What makes me ponder about the Korean War is the importance placed by both sides as to who started it. Such is the animosity and stubborness displayed by both sides that this thorny and somewhat pointless issue acts as a symbol for the fact that Korea has no chance of ever reunifying anytime soon. As we are led to believe that the North were the aggressors and the North otherwise, let's look at what led to these events. I believe that both sides wanted this war, and there were many factors leading to this suggesting that the slightest of provocations could and did start it. In the heightened tension of the early stages of the Cold War, coming very soon after the defeat of fascism in World War II, we found that the two new superpowers - the USA and USSR, had two powerful, industrial economies fuelled by military production. Both sides were eager to spread their dominance worldwide. The USA had successfuly launched the Truman doctrine to contain the spread of communism, whose first beneficiary - the anti-communist, monarchist puppet government in Greece - had scored a victory against all odds and public support over the Greek communists in a brutal civil war. The USSR too scored a massive geopolitical victory when the Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong won their bitterly-fought civil war with the Guomindang nationalists. With both sides buoyed by such victories, it was only a matter of time that Korea would be the stage for a 'hot war'. Having client cliques installed by both sides in their ooccupied Korean zones, the stage was set for creating a new conflict where the military complexes of both superpowers can continue to function at high levels. So it's pointless to lay the blame of aggressor on any side as both sides were itching to fight.
What separates the Korean War from other civil wars was the ferociousness of the conflict - Korean vs Korean. They say that the hate between brothers is the most intense, and that was in full display during and after the Korean War. What makes this animosity so strange in a way is that there is no firm basis for it. Korea is divided into regions where people speak different dialects of Korean and have slight variations in culture and food, but essentially Korea, both North and South, is the most homogenous nation in the world. The division between North and South at the 38th parallel is not a natural one, much like the intra-German border prior to 1990. The people of Kaesong, just north of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) dividing Korea, speak the same dialect as natives of Seoul, capital of the South. So what caused Koreans, who had been a unified nation for centuries, to hate each other so much? Surely the artificial border imposed less than 5 years prior to start of the Korean War couldn't have formented such deep divisions so quickly? How come Germany never went to war with each other in the same way as the Koreans? More so, how come Vietnam, which had been divided from 1954 to 1975, with a division which partly could be traced to French colonial boundaries and older and rather substantial Vietnamese cultural differences, was able to sustain a guerilla war in the US-supported South, eventually resulting in a Communist victory and reunification of the country? It must be sibling rivalry.
Koreans everywhere talk in high terms of yearning for reunification, but that won't happen if both sides continue to want reunification solely on their own terms. It's sad to see that such an anniversary is still being marked with the division of Korea, especially when families remain divided, lives shattered and Koreans in the North and South showing signs of divergence and the creation of separate national identities. As Germany discovered in 1990 when the GDR ceased to exist and the '5 new Länder', as GDR territory was euphemistically labelled, were annexed to the existing Federal Republic of Germany , even despite East German awareness of West German society through their exposure via TV, division is hard to heal with unification. After more than 60 years of Korean division, reunification now will be much harder.
I can't believe this! The Stalin statute in his hometown of Gori, the only one to remain in place at the centre of a main city anyway in the world, has been removed by order of the city authorities under the cover of darkness. The statute will be replaced with a monument dedicated to the 'Victims of Russian Aggression from 2008'. For more, here is the BBC link
Josif Vissarionovich Djugashvili (later Stalin) was born in Gori in 1879. Despite Stalin's less than glorious track record, many people in Gori adore the local boy, especially for his image of being a strong and disciplined leader. Stalin however was not popular with Saakashvili's anti-Russian government in Tbilisi , who are quick and correct to point out that it was Stalin who was responsible for destroying Georgia's brief period of independence from Russia in 1918 to 1921, when he led Red Army operations in the Caucasus to regain the region. It was almost like history repeating itself in 2008 when Gori was even briefly occupied by Russian forces after Georgia tried to regain control of the breakway region of South Ossetia. Obviously, Gori's authorities were under a lot of pressure from Saakashvili's government to remove this symbol of underlying but forcefully-imposed Russian domination over Georgia. It remains to be seen what the local backlash will be like. However, as Georgia, like most other Eastern European countries, really is still going through democratisation, I suspect that most of the local populace will collectively know that it's best to just shut up and not cause problems.
On another level, this removal of one symbol of the past, discredited regime, is being hastily replaced with a symbol of the new regime. The fact that Saakashvili is now creating new myths (that the 2008 victims were the result of 'Russian aggression' when Georgia was the one that launched the brief conflict) proves that the same tactics employed by the past Communist leaders are still being used. So much for being a Western-style democrat. And what is the irony of having a new monument ultimately designed to promote hatred towards Russia? That most Georgians, especially those that are educated and urban-dwelling, still maintain a high level of Russian cultural sense. Many Georgians still speak Russian, listen to Russian music, watch Russian TV, read Russian newspapers. Georgia is part of the post-USSR cultural Sovietsphere. Even many young Georgian popstars, who were born after the fall of the USSR, will include at least one pop song in Russian on their albums. There are large numbers of Georgians living in Russia and other ex-USSR republics. Ethnic Georgian singers such as Valerii Meladze and Grigorii Leps, sing exclusively in Russian and are huge stars in Russia. Even Eduard Shevernadze's granddaughter Sofia is a presenter on Russia's government-run 24-hour news channel Russia Today. It makes you wonder then why did they fight in 2008?
How things haven't changed. Russian pop star Natali with her song from 2008 - Someone Like Putin. Proving that popular entertainment is still politicised in Eastern Europe, but why would it be any different as this has always been the way.
A Jewish dance group was the target of stoning and racist slurs by a group of youths described as Muslim immigrants.
This is particularly of concern as this type of attack is quite similar to an attack that happened to a Macedonian dance group that my brother and sister were part of. At a performance in Port Willunga, south of Adelaide, Australia, in 1995, the local Macedonian dance group performed at a multicultural festival. This dance group consisted of children and teenagers performing folk dances of the culture of their Macedonian ancestors. However, the dance group was as multicultural as the festival, with many of the children of mixed ethnic background, some of whom were half-Greek, half-Macedonian, and even some children of Korean and Thai background who had been adopted and raised by ethnic Macedonian parents. Above all, they were all Aussie kids. However, Greek spectators in the crowd started hurling racist slurs at the innocent children, shouting in Greek and English and calling them 'filthy Gypsies'. What is most disgraceful was that it were Greek parents who instigated this vile display of racism. Totally speechless that people could stoop down to such low levels. OK, so many Greeks have a problem with Macedonia and Macedonians, but that does not give any reason to behave like they did towards children.
What makes the attack on the Jewish group far worse was that the performers were actually attacked by stones and were injured. It brings into question what were the motives for such an attack? Furthermore, it would be interesting what sort of connection these attackers have regarding the conflict in the Middle East. No doubt these attackers have absolutely no personal connection to the conflict in Israel and more than likely were born, raised and have never even left Germany in all their lives. They are much like the idiot Aussie kids of Croatian, Greek, Lebanese, Serbian etc. background who are more interested in proving their fragile masculinity by starting riots in the guise of their supposed support for tennis players hailing from the country of their grandparents at the Australian Open each year. Often they are more talk than action in the end, but it does make you wonder what environment are they being raised in. My advice to these kids - give it up! Your actions reveal more about your weaknesses than your self-delusional strengths.
One of the gripes of modern society is that we want more, more and more. Part of this need for more is that a job title must reflect something of stature - essentially, so that others can think that one is more special. A title, whether it be a job or academic title, for those of low self-esteem or with a chip on their shoulder based on some self-perceived quality equating weakness, will provide a cure to this weakness. Therefore we have extreme cases such as the leadership in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPR Korea, popularly known as 'North Korea') where Kim Il-Sung, leader of the country from its founding 1948 until his death in 1994 was known as the 'Great Leader' for the last 3 decades of his rule. His son and successor Kim Jong-il has been bearer of many a title, most famous of which was his title in the 1980s and early 1990s as 'the Dear Leader'. After his father's death, for a brief period he assumed the title of 'Great Leader' from his late father, while Kim senior was posthumously referred to the somewhat demoted title of 'Respected Leader'. Alas, the new old title for Kim Junior was just not enough for his hagiographers, so Kim Jong-il in the late 1990s was promoted to the new, more descriptive title of 'The Great Leader of Party and People'. This title didn't last long, nor was it particularly accurate as Kim Jong-il had (and still hasn't) assumed any official functions in the DPR Korean goverment (such as President or Premier) nor any official leadership rule in the ruling Korean Worker's Party. No, he's just the Supreme Commander of the National Security Council, the real power in modern-day, Songun (Military-first) Korea. So what is his title? For the past decade, it's just 'The Leader' or 'Supreme Commander'. Rather modest and more apt titles than the overblown titles of past.
The Korean Kims are still an enigma and not much is truly known about who they really are as humans. However, when analysing their political counterparts in pre-1989 Romania - the Ceaușescus, much is known about their nature and character. Noteworthy was their need for titles. Being the archetypical Balkan peasants they were, Nicolae and Elena really took badly to that stark distinction people in the Balkans place between urban and rural populations. Perhaps more so than pretty much is the case everywhere in the world, Balkan urban dwellers see their rural kin as backward, uncultured cretins while they themselves epitomise education, progressive thinking and modernity. However, in practice, the urban people who make the most of this belief usually themselves are only a generation or two away from those same village people they so despise. Naturally, as Nicolae Ceaușescu and Elena Petrescu were born in villages and arrived in Bucharest as young, unsophisticated villagers, they received the brunt of this prejudice. The way they ended up coping with this ongoing chip on their collective shoulders, despite being at the pinnacle of Romanian society in the 1960s to 1980s, was to award themselves titles. Nicolae Ceaușescu had his state media apparatus dubb him 'The Genius of the Carpathians', amongst other monickers, but his main title was 'Conducător', which has the meaning of 'guiding leader'. His wife Elena, oblivious to how inadvertently she was displaying her lack 0f self-esteem and education, eventually was awarded with not just one but three academic titles and was ludicruously addressed as 'Academic Doctor Engineer Comrade Elena Ceaușescu'.
Now where is this all leading to? Well, the Economist has an interested article about how there's an inflation in job titles in our modern, sophisticated Western society. This lack of self-esteem coupled with the need to be seen as someone important has resulted in people having fancy job titles, much like the same way Kim Jong-il is the 'dear leader' or our self-delusional Romanian Academic Doctor Engineer. On a closer note, I once worked in a re-insurance company. A majority of the people working there had been there for decades and essentially had no desire to move on from the safety of their positions. However, they also felt quite threatened when someone new would start work there, especially if they presented themselves as professional and ambitious - qualities these people lacked. What I later discovered was that when looking a list of employees, much to my surprise, they all had 'manager' in their job titles. There was an 'assistant account manager' and 'vice-assistant recoveries manager'. So essentially 80% of the office was a manager, but you could hardly say that they were managing anything. Essentially, in order to placate these people into continuing to work doing the same mindnumbing paper pushing they have been doing for the past few decades, management awarded them with fancy job titles. Well, it worked.
Welcome to alt-world-watch, a new blog which will highlight this weird and crazy world we live in. Ever since I was a young boy living in the midst of Australian suburbia, I have been full of information. Soaking as much in as I can, and always wanting to share it. Here is now my chance to spread the joy and, in the process, enlighten to alternative views and background that the mainstream media discard as unimportant, or too important for us mignons to know. Also, it'll provide respite to my poor partner who has to put up with having to listen to my constant rants. Now I can rant on the net instead. Win-win!
My main philosophy in posting is that the world and the people that live in it are not the cultured and sophisticated beings we like to think ourselves to be. Not at all! We are primitive people who still essentially live by the rules of the playground, are quite hypocritical and selfish. And you know, the quicker we realise this, understand this and recognise this, the better we will be. That is human nature. So I celebrate and highlight human nature. It may be a cliché to say but we are all the same deep down.
Anyway, enough of this intro and let's explore this world.
Please feel free to drop me a line whenever you wish to make a point or comment.
