Čiste namjere / Pure Intent

Heco.  Again.  That fargin prat of an energy minister. 

Does anyone remember the long string of his public lies some time ago?  "We have an energy strategy in our heads....we just haven't put it on paper yet!"  "We'll be in the dark by next year if we don't start building hydro electric plants immediately."  "Bosnia and Herzegovina does NOT produce a surplus of energy."

US Congressman Brian Baird paid a visit to BiH and met with Vahid.  Vahid seems to have changed his tune once talking to someone who might actually know 'koliko je sati.'  Heco now claims that by 2018, yes, 2018...BiH could (COULD) experience shortages (not mrak like he promised) and we might (MIGHT) have to import electricity.

The evil manipulation and lies of this man, his party (STRANKE ZA BIH - aka, fekalni otpad SDA), and his business cronies (Safet Orucevic) is on a level playing ground with the American economic hitman that terrorized Latin America and Southeast Asia in the 80' and 90's.  (If your interested and haven't read John Perkins 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman", please do).

Heco seems to be a pathological liar. And my guess is that he's said so many lies that he forgets which lies he's told.  FTV catches him weekly in a big fat lie....Ploce Terminal, strategic partners, Intrade, Environmental Impact Assessments.  You name it...he'll lie about it.  And who is the circus leader...or perhaps i should say leaders.  Safa i Haris.

I think I would vote for Srpska Radikalna Stranka before i would vote for Stranke PROTIV BiH.  At least i would know what i'm getting.   

So he admitted that we might have a problem 9 years from now.  I bet by the heat of the pre election campaign we'll be in the dark by the new year according to Vahide.  Mark my words.  The energy farse will be a major campaign topic.  Heco is like cocaine.  It's a big lie. 

I just read about three spectacled bears in a Leipzig zoo that have lost all of their hair.  Apparently its not the first time this is happening in a European zoo.  Funny enough, even the clever Germans can't figure out why. 
 
Hmmm.....let me throw a theory or two out there. 

First of all, they live in a friggin cage.  Let's lock a zookeeper up for just 24 hours and see how nice it feels to be locked in a box.  One might think that any living being might get a bit claustrophobic. Claustrophobia, at least in my amateur opinion, is pretty damn stressful. 

They come from the Andes mountains in Peru and Ecuador.  They live in a completely different climate and have a unique - and natural - diet.  Now they can walk about 50 metres in one go, get hand fed food that I bet doesn't come from South America.  Diet is a major cause of most skin irritations.  What the body can't deal with internally....it chucks it to our bodies largest organ - our skin. 

So all these perplexed animal experts can't understand why caged bears could lose their hair.  I'm slightly dumbfounded by their dumbfoundedness.  Humans tend to think that if they animals have a 'safe' place and get fed that the animals are on some sort of permanent holiday.  This is further evidence of how we've strayed from our roots and how undetached we've become from pacha mama. 

Here in Bosnia its much worse.  We've got bears in 2mx2m cages to attract people to some idiots restaurant. The worse thing is that it works.  On Vlasic Mountain, just across the RS border towards Skender Vakuf, some putz entertains and attracts his guests by feeding the bear beer.  So we have an alcoholic bear in a box the size of someone's ormar.  And we love it.  We think its cute. The poor bastard also get the added stress affect of looking at the mountains where he was born and had roamed until some pitiful 'hunter' decided to steal him from his mother. My guess is that mom ended up much worse - probably now a carpet in front of a fireplace. 

I'm not one of these nutty animal rights fanatics by any means.  But the level of disrespect and ignorance towards wild animals and the importance of balance in the wild is truly astonishing. 

I was at a horse farm in Capljina not too long ago.  He captured a wolf  near Glamoc somewhere and has kept this poor thing in a small cage for 4 years.  The 'owner' told me, confused, that he still couldn't tame the wolf and after all this time this wild animal was still afraid of man.  Silly dog!  What's there to be scared of? 

He had nasty cuts on his ears.  They were bleeding and flies were congregating on the wound.  I asked why he didn't treat it.  He said would...but it was hard for the vet to get near him.  Imagine that. 

I refuse to go to zoos.  People think I'm too extreme.  How on earth could I go and enjoy another beings captivity?  How on earth can parents so blissfully teach their children - directly or indirectly, that this is ok and that the animals are having a party?  Animal rescue shelters are one thing.  But most zoo's are about prized catches that bring in the big bucks. 

I think I'm starting to lose some hair.  Empathy syndrome i guess. 

I've been away for quite some time, I guess.  I haven't been at all motivated to write about much of anything.  Still not really. 

I'm sort of glad that headlines have been somewhat of flatlines lately.  It's a nice break from the budalastina. 

I do have a question, though.  Dodik refuses to discuss any further 'changes' in the presence of foreigners.  If the man had an honest bone in his body and behaved like somewhat of an honest broker i would say - svaka cast! 

So my question.  The Europeans continue to prove themselves of a serious birth defect.  They have no spine whatsoever.  I personally think Carl Bildt is a schmuck.  But I don't think he cares too much what i think of the man. 

What do you think of an American-Russian brokered negotiations? 

The EU can come along for ride....perhaps they could learn a few things about effective diplomacy when it comes to BiH. I think an American-Russian brokered deal would be cool to watch....or at least follow.

I get the eery feeling that this Bildt move was more to show how 'unsustainable' BiH is as a state (bastard!). The Americans are trying out Obama's new approach of dialog instead of F-16's.  The Russians have been smart and sly...playing the geo-political chess to perfection. 

The Rusi's are a member of PIC.  They are replaying the early 20th century balkan tug-of-war to quite effectively.  So bring them to the table.  The Federation seems to have more faith in the yanks....and the RS believe in their orthodox brothers from the motherland.  Fair enough. 

Whatta ya say?  American and Russia solve the Balkan riddle once and for all.  Now that would be a true display of diplomacy.   

A friend came into town from the UK last week.  We decided to show him Mostar...and perhaps hide a bit from this weird cold front that has brought half the trees in this area to its knees.  The combination of wet snow and green leaves on the branches proved rather disastrous.  I spent hours the other day trying to free the trees on 'my' land from their snowy captivity. 

So we took the 7.05 train to Mostar.  It was a great ride down.  A good day in Mostar.  Hopped about a bit on Podvelezje, the long highland plateau between Mostar the high peaks of Velez Mountain.  I had some amazing pekmez from sipurak.  WOW....mixed with ustipci and kajmak....its an addictive combination. 

The ride back gave me cancer i think.  I can't remember being so angry after a train ride.  I felt like I had been in an old school basement kafana for 12 hours instead of being on an above ground public railway system. 

I've been here long enough to know that Bosnians are chronic smokers.  I probably shouldn't be astonished on how incredibly rude they can be by chain smoking in restaurants, cafe's, bars...but public places too - courthouses, buses, trains, health centres, hospitals - its unreal. 

At least 2/3 of the passengers chain smoked the entire journey.  None of the windows could open.  The ticket collector said nothing even though it was obvious that the 1/3 of us were literally having trouble breathing.  The heat was on full throttle.  Dzehenem! 

Sweating.  Disgusting secondary smoke sticking to the cilia in my nose to guarantee that the smell would haunt me till i scrubbed my body down at home hours later.  My clothes stunk like an ashtray.  My eyes were blood red.  My throat and lungs irritated.  And you think I'm exaggerating.  I'm not.  Really, I'm not. 

The thing i love most about Bosnian smokers is that THEY get insulted if you mention anything about their disgusting addiction.  If you wanna smoke...more power to you....but for christ sake kill yourself and not everyone in your general vicinity. 

It's true....i have a total american attitude to smoking...and i'm proud of it.  Bosnians, for example, love to light up at the dinner table.  As long as they've finished their meal...or at least paused during a mezze session....they don't care if the rest of us are eating.  So i get to eat their smoke. 

That, to me, is the equivalent of inviting a Muslim friend to dinner and serving pork.   Smoking is a repulsive and sickening habit. 

My mom was a smoker when i was a kid.  I used to steal her cigs and throw them away.  She found them and I got a smack or two.  She kept smoking.  So i stole her cancer sticks, put them in the sink, turned the water on...and then threw them away.  She smacked me around then too.  For over a year in fact until the woman caught on that i was more than willing to take a beating in order to obstruct her from lighting one of those evil things.  She quit 2 years later. 

I'm not so hopeful for Bosnians.  They're fatalists.  'I only live once', they say 'so let me enjoy myself while i'm here.' 

That wouldn't be a problem if your enjoyment wasn't my misery.  I hate cigarettes. 

Well...who's to say the miserable foreign investment atmosphere in Bosnia doesn't have its bright side.  Of course it does.  Those nasty rumours that McDonald's was setting up shop at the new Alta shopping centre in Sarajevo is....FALSE.  Glory be.

But that's not what i wanted to talk about.  No, its Prokosko Lake...and some of the symptoms of our illness. 

Prokosko Lake is a glacier lake on Vranica Mountain near Fojnica.  It has been a highland shepherd settlement for eons.  Up to the war it was dotted with only a handful of the traditional katuni huts which were used for summer grazing for thousands of sheep.

Just like most places in BiH the demographics have changed here too.  It's not the humans that have gotten the boot this time around though...but the sheep. 

Since the Canton has put certain protection measures on paper and a moratorium on any further building the population boom continues.  There are now over 300 huts around the lake.  And the lake is feeling the crunch, believe me.  300 huts creates many things:

lots of rubbish (as seen in the lake and in several gullies around the lake - in the tonnes)

too much detergent (washing up liquids and god knows what are seeping into the lake)

human waste galor (normal standards for septic tanks is that there shouldn't be any up there - they are all too close to the lake.  Composting toilets should be rule not the exception.)

All these people need wood as well.  So, illegal deforestation.   The local shepherds have always picked blueberries and cranberries to earn a little extra cash...now the mountains are flooded with 'early' pickers, stripping the mountain bare without leaving some to spare for regeneration and the wildlife that have been there since, well, for much longer than we have.  I also stumbled across klek pinecone pickers.  I thought they were perhaps making medicinal oil or something but the four man team was stripping the sensitive klek of its pinecones for 'decorations.'

Three hundred huts also need water.  So all the water sources that refresh the lake with new, clean water have been cut and/or redirected.  I don't kow if the endemic triton has survived or if there are any fish left in the lake - but i wouldn't be surprised if they are on the brink if they are there at all. 

This may seem like a helpless situation. But it's not.  I honestly believe with a bit of will and pamet, there are long term solutions to balancing economy and ecology.  Vranica is still a wonderfully beautiful mountain...one that I'm sure people from every corner of Europe would appreciate and love to visit.  The situation is fixable...yet the 'boli me k***c' mentality seems to rule the day in Fojnica. 

I've decided to try though.  I will meet the mayor and see if we can at least find the political will to change a few things and hopefully begin, step by step, to find a new balance.  Will i get run out of the office?  Perhaps.  Will they pay me lip service and carry on with their destructive tendencies?  Maybe.  But i'll have a few carrots to dangle and maybe we can penetrate those thick and high walls that deny us of logical and moral governance. Ko zna?! 

I like Barack Obama.  I really do. 

BUT...

How can a man who just arrived into the big white marble house (made with stone from Brac btw) win a noble prize for peace?

I'm confused.  I thought you actually had to do something to win a peace prize.  I didn't think giving people 'hope' warrants such a prestigious award. 

I guess i was wrong. 

If i would have voted....it would have been for him.  And sure, the man gives me hope to.  But a nobel peace prize.  Heck, the man has been in office less than 10 months. 

Guantanamo is still a reality. 

America is still in Iraq.

It's getting really ugly in Afghanistan.

The Israeli - Palestinian issue is getting worse. 

And?  Well, that's just it.  The 'and' is....well, ne znam.  I really don't know.  Can someone help me here?  I'm all for an American president getting a peace prize instead of pissing most of the world off and bombing lots of people.  But i truly and honestly don't get it. 

There's this talk of promoting the idea of nuclear disarmament.  But everybody still has as many nukes as they did before...and even more...including the US.  As far as I know the US hasn't eliminated its nuclear aid program to India yet insists Iran cannot have it (oops, too late!). 

Now i'm no fan of Iranian leadership but I can't remember a time that they strayed too far out of their own borders to do anything to anyone except to fight our friendly neighbourhood Saddam Hussein. 

If you ask me, Fra Ivo from Sveti Ante's or Sulejman Bugari in Sarajevo deserves it more than Obama.   Natasa Kandic too. But i guess that's just our little balkan world and not the whole thing, huh?  Fair enough. 

Still....what peace has Mr. Obama brought about?

I'm all ears.

I'm not sure how you all feel about it...but it insults my intelligence to watch two groups of violent morons 'protest against violence.'  Two days ago they were stoning each other like neanderthals and today they peacefully gather to protest violence.  WHAT?! You have got to be kidding me...give me a f**king break please!

The only thing they do seem to perpetuate is violence.  Everything about their collective represents an aggressive stance against people, places and things.  The chants.  The provocations.  What else could it possible lead to?

Now the entire country is divided into two camps.  Was it the Horde Zla or the Siroki lunatics who started it.  Let me say one thing.  It started a long time ago.  It continues on today.  The ultra-nationalism we saw during the war has been conveniently transformed and passed on to our children.  I call it nationalist hooliganism.  Football is the new collective instead of Armija BiH, HVO and VRS.  According to each collective, of course, they simply and conveniently 'defended' themselves. 

So these brutal thugs are now acting so surprised that there was violence.  Little kitten victims who came to cheer for their club.  They were all wearing cute fuzzy bunny outfits and handed out roses to everyone they came across.  The finger pointing and protesting is downright pitiful.  All of us should be out on the streets protesting against the whole lot of them.  They create and disseminate violence in our communities and only burn bridges - not build them. 

Now we get to float from web portal to web portal to read outrageous fascist comments that would land any 'European' citizen in jail. Here, you're a god damn hero. 

To add insult to injury (or death should I say), our flourishing democracy 'accidently' allows a cold blooded killer to walk away from the grip of the 'law.'  With role models and a dysfunctional system such as ours...do we have any right whatsoever to wonder why we have such a high rate of juvenile delinquincy, heroin addicts, violent crimes and football thugs to carry out the thoughts and intentions of the masses? 

To me this is a nasty mirror rearing its ugly head.  And we all have blame to bear. 

Both 'sides' need to get off their smelly high horses and have their heads checked.  European football 'fans' disgust me...football in the former YU goes far beyond disgust.  It's a bloody disgrace...and its a fiery hornets nest of fascists.  Put the fire out please. 

Someone.  Anyone.     

Ok, I'm going to the change the subject now.  After hearing that 1389 is going to partake in the anti-violence march in Belgrade on Thursday I decided that maybe dewd is right.  Or worse yet, maybe I'm just nuts. 

Anyway, we've changed the subject, right?  gotcha. 

I am currently working on the 3rd edition of the Bradt bTravel Guide to BiH.  I have a submission date approaching and want to put the final touches on the many changes I've made. 

I would love, welcome and appreciate any input from you guys - Bosnians, diaspora, ferners, ex-pats.  Tell me what your favourite restaurants, hotels, cafe's, bars are.  Tell me if I've screwed up in previous editions and you have a way to fix it. 

Basically I know that in the more rural areas not that much has changed.  There a handful of new restaurants and perhaps a few B&B's.  My research has shown a sharp jump, however, in Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka and a handful of other places.

So if you have a recommendation my eyes and ears are open.  Give me a few details pls if you are able.  I will have to check these places so the more info the better.  Thank you good people.   

RIP Brice Taton.  May your violent death finally wake a shred of moral fiber in Serbia. 

Serbia...sram vas bilo....yet again.

Although according to some readers fascist right wing groups seem to be bigger, better and more vocal everywhere in Europe than in Serbia (or at least the 'same')....yet another foreigner was beaten senseless in the centre of Beograd last night.  Four in two weeks....from three continents. 

The Frenchman from Tolouse is hanging on by a string...apparently brain dead and not likely to make a recovery if he lives at all.  The new victim was from Libya.  His injuries are fairly extensive.

It seems rather clear to me who controls the streets of Belgrade.  And my friends from Beograd have every right to be terrified.  I suppose this will be labeled by some as random violence.  I would refer to it as a well organized, politically backed, ultra right fascist resurgence very similar to the one that wreaked havoc in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990's. 

Has anyone heard of such 'events' in Zagreb, Sarajevo, Skopje,  or Podgorica latey?  Just curious.